Under Pink Skies
by Avernacus
Summary: Steven is tired, he only wants to rest for a while, saving Lars took a lot out of him and right now, he wants to sleep. Thankfully the sand of sandy beach was so inviting, even the pink sky above looked enticing. His gem really knew what he liked the most and placed it all into his final resting place. How nice. *Older Steven. War. set after Off Colors*
1. Under Pink Skies

**Hello everyone. I am Avernacus (Aver-nacus.) today I bring you a tale I have been spinning together in my head for at least a month or two, give or take. Anyway, it takes place near the end of the off colours episode with Steven and lars. With one simple twist. Any way on with this story.**

 **Steven universe and all its characters belong to Rebecca sugar.  
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Chapter one: _Under Pink Skies_

Waves beneath his feet, a soft breeze wafting across his face. Steven was calm, happy, light as air. After escaping a gem court with his friend lars and saving said friend from death. Why wouldn't he be happy.

"I think… I think I deserve a break." He sat upon the comforting sand of beach city and looked upon the great pink sky. He was content.

"what do you think Lars. Don't you think we need to rest a bit?" There was no reply. Nothing. No birds chirping in the sky, no thundering waves, not even any shouts of joy coming from the boardwalk. It didn't bother Steven at all.

"yeah. You are going to be okay Lars. You're going to be just fine." A sudden drop of rain touched his face, it slithered down his cheek and into the sand. Another followed soon after, then another. The pink clouds opened up, letting loose their sad orchestra of pitter patter upon the sand.

"don't cry Lars. It wasn't your fault." Steven closed his eyes and the rain grew heavier. His couldn't open them again, they grew too heavy, to solid. To think being in his own gem, would feel so different to the time he and Garnet travelled into Pearls.

"I'm going to sleep now Lars… I need a break, just… for… a while…" the sand beneath him began to fall away and the waves that gently lapped at his feet began to cover him. He will sleep for a while, he needed to, Lars wouldn't mind. The crystal gems wouldn't mind. No one will mind, no they wouldn't, not one bit. He was only tired.

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"Steven" a gentle voice filled Stevens ears.

"hmm" he stirred, rolling over to his right side as the sand shifted beneath him.

"steven dear… it is time to wake up." he ignored the voice and shifted more sand up under his own head, trying his best to reclaim the comfort he just lost.

"Pearl made waffles. If you don't get up in time, Amethyst will eat them." The voice giggled in his ear, he couldn't ignore the sweetness of it any longer.

"waffles!" he lazily sat up, his eyes still half closed to the world. He wasn't going to let amethyst steal his waffles.

"oh, you're so adorable Steven" a slight breeze brushed against his cheek, a large chunk of sand fell away from his face. Who was talking, in fact, why the heck was he asleep on the beach.

"hello?" he turned his head left to right admiring the ocean, the clouds, the pink sky. "uhh… why is the sky pink?"

It was strange now that he noticed, all around him looked exactly like beach city. The boardwalk was there, he could see a hand of the temple just around the corner, he could even see his father's van pulled up next to it.

"why is it so quiet?" there were no people, no annoying gulls, even the waves didn't make a noise as they rolled up onto the beach. It's as if someone decided to turn the volume down on the world, leaving it in a quiet serenity.

"Look how much you've grown." Another breeze caressed his face, the gentle voice following it. 'this voice sounds so familiar, oh who is it?' it filled him with a type of giddiness, he could barely contain his own excitement every time it filled his ears.

"come on show yourself… you sound like someone I know." He stood, the sand falling away from his legs. He had to balance himself for it felt like he hadn't walked in years.

 _If I could. begin to be, half of what you think of me._

Steven heard a song behind him, it was beautiful. Turning around he nearly jumped in surprise, his dads van had somehow parked itself right behind him, the back door facing his way.

 _I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love._

"dad?" he reached forward and pulled on the handles, both the doors swung wide.

 _Like you._

His dads tv was playing a recording of himself sitting on the beach with the crystal gems. Connie was sitting with him, while Amethyst and Greg were chowing down on Hotdogs. Garnet and Pearl sat a bit further away admiring the stars that dazzled the sky that night, the only two missing were Lapis and Peridot.

"I am so proud of you Steven." the video changed to Peridot chasing after the corrupted runner in the desert, Steven was close on her tail, laughing. It brought a smile to his face.

"you have done so many, amazing things, even things I could never do myself" once more the video changed, this time to a watermelon Steven rising with its many brothers and sisters to fight off Malachite.

"you've changed so many lives for the better." A smiling Lapis flying high above the clouds with him on her shoulders, exploring the many places she could live. It was a great time.

"and you have sacrificed so much as well." Many images flashed across the screen, showing times of peril and anguish. It pained his heart, to see the things he could never change.

"Steven, you are so amazing" the tape stopped and two, long and soft arms curved around his neck, embracing him.

"mom?" tears filled his eyes as curls of pink framed the edges of his vision, her head was leaning softly against his.

"it's me." A drop of water left his chin, then another, the tears didn't stop as he turned to face her.

"mooom." She had a gentle smile on her lips and her eyes, oh he would never forget those caring eyes. He jumped without hesitation, his arms encircling her as best as they could. She was here with him, his mother Rose was here.

"shh, shh shh. You're okay. It is all okay. I have you."

"mommmm." His heart was soaring, the glow from his gem was nearly blinding. Here he was being held in the arms of his mother, the mother he thought he would never see in person.

"w… why…" he couldn't get the words out, he was so happy to just be held by her, why would he want to ruin it with some stupid question.

"it's okay, calm down. You're okay." Her hand patted the back of his hair, smoothing his curls down. His sobs soon began to subside.

Rose turned and sat down in the back of the van, careful not to make him uncomfortable. Her whispers of safety continuing until he finally stopped crying.

"there you are. Better?" Steven didn't speak, he only nodded against her neck. He didn't want to speak, for a fear was starting to nibble away at the back of his thoughts.

'I just want to hold on a little longer.' The fear was obvious, what if this wasn't real. It could possibly be so for all he knew, but at the same time he could be having some crazy delusion on Homeworld.

"Homeworld!" it clicked, he leapt from her arms, he previous fears squashed for the time being.

"Lars! Where is Lars!?" his eyes scanned the beach with an intensity that could have rivalled Garnets. Nowhere along the sandy beach or boardwalk could he spot him.

"Steven calm down." He turned back to see Rose standing once again, her face no longer holding a graceful smile, it was replaced with a small frown.

"where is he? We were on Homeworld and, and um. He died! Then ohhhh. What happened next!?" his mind was jumbled, messed up. The details just weren't turning up.

"Steven, please calm down. Your friend is fine." His head began to hurt. Flashes of an explosion lit up his eyesight followed by a pink glow and then, blackness

"what happened?" Steven pulled his hands away from his face and clenched the tight.

"Steven. i… need to tell you something." His heart fell as his mother's expression grew even sadder. Tears threaten to break across her cheeks as she patted the sand in front of her. it hurt Steven to see her like this, was he the one causing her to look so sad?

"what's…. what's wrong. Did I do something?" he took the place in front of her, she merely shook her head in response.

"no Steven, no you didn't" she pulled him forward into an embrace.

"when you wake up Steven… you're going to be somewhere unfamiliar okay?"

"but. I'm already awake and in an" he yawned. "un familiar place, the sky is pink."

"I know Steven, I know. But this place will be a bit scary okay?" he nodded. He found his eyelids starting to get heavy. 'am I already tired again? I haven't even gotten my waffles yet'

"so you have to promise. To run okay?" Steven accidently tuned out of his mother speaking. He could feel the sand beneath his legs begin to shift.

"yes mom… but I can't run right now. I'm kind of sleepy. Will you tuck me in?" he rolled over to see her biting her lip, tears at the fringe of her eyes. What was wrong?

"of course, I will… anything for you Steven." With tears streaming down her face, she lifted him up into her arms, holding him close to her chest. She approached the van and laid him down on Greg's mattress.

"I've been… meaning to ask." Steven was trying extremely hard to keep his eyes open. Rose pulled over the covers and gently tucked in the sides. She wiped away some of her tears and leaned over him a smile trying pierce through her frown.

"mm?" he returned the smile and closed his eyes.

"where…. Is… your…. Gem?" Rose leaned down and planted a small kiss on his cheek. The tears streaming once more. He looked so peaceful. To think this would be the first and last time she would ever see him.

"you are my gem Steven. My precious Crystal Gem." She stepped away from him and out of the van, his light snores bringing a smile to her face. Rose was proud to have brought someone so kind, so caring, so passionate in what he believes in, into the world. it was just so sad that he was taken out of it so soon. Why did Homeworld, have to be so cruel.

"it doesn't matter now. I brought Steven into the world, I'll do it again." Rose clenched her fists, then released them, her anger Dissipating. This isn't how she wants to leave, she doesn't want to feel angry or mad, or upset. For the first time in fourteen years, she held her son in her own hands, not even disappearing from existence would take that away.

"if I could, begin to be, half of what you think of me." The sound of waves filled her ears as they gently lapped against the sand.

"I could do about anything" laughter and happy chatter filled the boardwalk as the voices of those long pass filled the air.

"I could even learn how to love" A soft glowed filled the sky as the sun began to fall below the horizon. She couldn't help but cry as the image of Greg appeared before her, arms wide open. With the last of her strength she fell forward into his arms.

"like… you." She thought of Steven as the glow intensified, she was so happy to finally meet him.

"we did good Rose… we did good." Greg's hold tightened around her.

"I know… I know…"

She was gone.

The glow grew brighter and Steven…

Woke up.

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 **Okay Jesus… i'm no joke crying. Sorry. I was listening to that song** _ **love like you**_ **from the show while writing and wow. This is only Chapter one Avernacus. God dammit. Okay so yeah. If you haven't gathered what happened somehow Steven died right after reviving Lars. So, he was basically in his gem and he met Rose. The real Rose, she knew what was going on she also knew Steven can't reform like normal gems so yeah, she sacrificed her entire existence, not just her form. She is no more, she's gone. Um she was there the whole time seeing his adventures, the friends he's made. I'm not going to mention anything about the next chapter except Steven will be back on earth.**

 **If you enjoyed the first chapter of** _ **Under Pink Skies**_ **let me know. If you cried to then then I'm glad you got the same feeling I did.**


	2. Wakey Wakey

**okay. Welcome back to Under Pink Skies. I'm glad some interest and even a few reviews came out of the first chapter. I'm glad you like my style Wolfspirit2996. I hope to keep it up. Thank you those who decided to follow and comment. I want to write an amazing fanfic for you all.**

 **Steven Universe and all its characters are owned by Rebecca Sugar.  
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Chapter two: _wakey wakey._

Alarms. Large obnoxious alarms. They pounded away at his sensitive ears, sending spikes of annoyance through his body, he just got to tucked in. Couldn't he sleep just a little bit longer?

"Uhhh.. someone get the alarm clock." Steven rolled over, eyes closed, he was completely ignorant of the situation around him. Thinking Pearl was too busy to turn off he reached for anything that might resemble a clock.

"ah! She almost got me! Run!" several voices passed through the selfish noise that proceeded to rob him of his sleep. He cracked an eye.

and proceeded to freak out.

"what the hay!?" he wasn't in a soft bed, not at all, the glass surrounding his feet spoke something else entirely.

"Rose Quartz has escaped containment! I repeat! All personnel! Rose Quartz has escaped containment." A booming voice resounded over an intercom placed in the wall to his right. Several gems inside the room were trying to hide behind equipment and terminals, he didn't recognize any of them, not a single gem type. Friend or foe.

"h-hey, let us out! This wasn't part of the protocol!" a short purple gem was pounding away at the door to his right, obviously trying to get out of the room he was occupying.

'what is going on? Where am i?' Steven didn't have a clue of where he was. The room was completely white and filled with what looked to be medical equipment. This was a completely different contrast to the beach he was sleeping at moments ago.

"um. Excuse me what is happening?" Steven had managed to peaked behind one of the tables, a slim light red gem in a white coat was cowering away at his voice.

"d-d-d-don't… no! got to cover your ears…. Cover your EARS!" she scrambled to her feet and knocked over the table. This was all beginning to frighten Steven, they were so panicky to get away from not just the room but him as well.

"come on! Let us out before they-!"

"Quartz containment protocol active."

"before that happens. Argh!" she slammed her fist against the door and gave a sigh of defeat. She shrunk to the floor.

"hey, are you okay?" Steven reached forward, concerned for the sudden quietness the Gem gave off. His hand did make it in time. A beam of yellow light struck her, sending her body into a convulsive state before finally poofing her into her gem form.

"what the!" several more lights shot off from two points in the room, striking them left and right reverting them back to their gem. one by one they dropped to the ground, their respective gems clinking as they hit the cold floor.

"what is going on… where is everyon- woah!" Steven rolled to the right as a yellow beam shot at him from the far corner, it barely missed him, if he wasn't looking around it surely would have nailed him right in the back. He was in no mood to be zapped at today.

"h-hey!" hiding behind a terminal was the only option now, there wasn't anywhere else to run in such a small room and three decent shields is still his limit. Another shot was fired from a corner to his left, he managed to duck further down just in time, the shot whizzing over his head and hitting the wall.

"stop that!" he could at least throw one of them. summoning his rose shield he threw it at the wall in front of him, making sure to give it enough of an angle to bounce off the wall and go flying further into the room behind him. The sound of it bounced several times before finally hitting one of his targets. It exploded and a second alarm began to sound off.

"Quartz units prepare to move in! distabilization failsafes are failing. Take extreme measures if you have to, make sure she doesn't leave the facility."

"are they referring to me?" Steven was running out of time and the final laser was still firing off at his position, he had to move. Summoning another shield, Steven stood, a shot came for him but he bounced it off his shield, deflecting it straight into the remaining turret, destroying it.

"Boom. Two points Steven, zero to the lasers." He pumped his fist into the air. He had no clue what was going, but it was kind of exciting, like his own action-packed movie.

"now I have to find the Crystal gems." He ended his short little victory pose as several heavy footsteps approached the door, this would be his chance to escape, he had to do it now. Uncertain if they would charge in or wait for him, he braced against the right-hand side of the door, waiting for it to open.

He didn't have the time to fight, not when he was obviously running on so little information about his new environment and its surprises.

"ready" he heard several large clunks as the door was unlocking.

"set" the door slowly began to open, a wisp of fog accompanying it.

"go!" summoning his own shield for the third time that day he pushed through the door, knocking over several surprised gems.

"can't catch meeee!" he cried out as he sprinted down the hall. Several angry voices called out after him and soon began to chase.

"he's heading down wing two, corridor three. Seal off all exits in that area."

Numbers flew by as Steven kept running, he had no clue where he was going or how he was going to get out of here. His feet were already beginning to get sore as they slapped against the smooth ground.

"not good, not good!" as he rounded a corner full sprint he collided with another body sending him sprawling to the ground.

"watch where you are going!" dazed from the impact his shield dissipated, a hand soon picked him up by the arm, placing him back onto his feet.

"sorry!" he apologized to the gem he just rammed into at full speed.

"hey wait a minute!" Steven was about to speed off again before the gem grabbed him, her grip was way to strong he couldn't get out of it.

"let go!" he struggled.

"oh no way!?" she sounded surprised, didn't she know there was a lockdown on and he was the reason why. He kept struggling against her grip, those other gems would soon catch up.

"shh! Just! Stay quiet!" he was lifted off the ground and thrown through a doorway, he landed with a heavy thud before sliding into more equipment. His back received a couple of red marks from the fresh floor burns he just received.

"No! let me go!" the door closed before he could reach it, leaving him in darkness.

"let me out! Right now, or so help me!" he pounded a fist against the wall and seconds later the gem hit back, silencing him. He could already hear the approaching footsteps of Homeworld gems. He was trapped.

"Jasper!" a large booming voice pierced the darkness.

"yes mam!?" the jasper meekly replied obviously afraid of this commanding officer of hers.

"did you see an escapee?" Steven held his breath, he summoned one more shield but it was far too small to put up any real defence, he was too tired. As soon as that door opened he would have to charge out as fast as he could and give it his all to escape somehow. Holding his breath, he waited.

"yes mam!... he… went that way!" surprise over took him 'did this gem just save me?' the footsteps took off in the direction she had given them. A few moments passed and the door opened briefly, allowing the Jasper gem to enter.

"are you okay? Did I hurt you?" a light came on illuminating the space he was in. it was some sort of storage closet, filled with parts of different shapes and sizes. It must have been tidy before he was thrown in there as most of it was now covering him.

"no… no I'm fine. Thanks." Steven pulled a piece of metal off his lap and blushed, he immediately put it back, to cover up his nudity.

"have I been naked this whole time?"

"I would say so yes. I'm guessing you just reformed?" finally acknowledging the fact he was in a room with an unknown gem, he stood. No matter the situation, it was always polite to introduce yourself.

"sorry. Um, thank you for saving me, I'm Steven." The jasper in front of him was tall and thin, her tiger stripes were a dark brown as well compared to the Jasper he fought against months ago.

"so, it's true. You really are the gem hybrid. How come you look so different to the last time I saw you? Is it because you reformed." She approached with a curious glint in her eyes.

"um we know each other?" Steven backed away, she was a bit too close for his comfort, as he was backing up his hand touch a piece of fabric. It was far better than nothing.

"oh, what was it that stupid nickname she keeps calling me?" she brought a finger to her chin, when that didn't work she scratched at her pointy hair. Steven took the lapse in conversation to quickly stand and cover himself, it was far too much to be running around without clothes.

"oh, that's it!"

"you do know me?" he flinched at her tone, she leaned forward and smiled.

"I am lanky. That's what your Amethyst called me, well still calls me." A flash of his adventure at the human zoo briefly crossed his mind, it was the time Amethyst was introduced to her prime kindergarten friends while they were on a rescue mission.

"your right! We have met. This is so cool! I'm sorry I didn't recognize you."

"hey, don't sweat it, I can say same the same for you. If it wasn't for your gem I would have passed you off as one of those teenagers that they keep at the zoo." Lanky leaned against one of the many shelves, she hushed herself as footsteps ran pass.

"thanks for the compliment but I'm only fourteen." He whispers to her and her eyebrow rises.

"I don't mean to be rude, but is that form a little to mature for your age?" Steven raised an eye brow back at her, he had no clue what she was talking about, he was still a young boy.

"here" catching on to his thoughts, she handed him a shiny piece of metal from the shelf next her. It was clear enough to see his own reflection in it.

"woah!" Lanky reach forward and covered his mouth, a finger to her own as another contingent went pass, they were running out of time. Steven on the other hand was shocked, he looked so different, older even, looking at his body he was actually, taller, slimmer around the waste and more muscular around the chest and shoulders. Did his body finally decide to age up, if so then why the big age jump?

"hey, Steven?" Steven pulled his eyes away from the metal, Jasper was concerned and tapping away with her foot.

"yeah? What's up." He watched as she pulled a small metallic object from her belly gem, it shined in the light of the room.

"I was supposed to meet with a contact from the bio division here, but seeing that you ran from that direction I would guess that is out of the question now." she grabbed his wrist and planted the device in his hands.

"wait what are you doing?" she closed his fist around it, he could feel its smooth edges in his hand, it was surprisingly heavy for such a small thing.

"this is an optical data drive pertaining to the research they have been doing here. when you get out, you need to take it to the rebels as fast as you can."

"wait. The rebels? Do you mean the Crystal Gems?" she nodded, Steven could see a sad look in her eyes.

"yes, the Crystal Gems. Just down the hall there is a maintenance elevator that leads to the surface, I can unlock it for you. Once there you should be able to find an extraction agent nearby, go with them. They will take you to the base. It's basically stardust from there.

"what about you? Isn't this a Homeworld base how will I get back to earth?" she recoiled slightly, she wasn't prepared for that.

"I still have a job to do. Don't worry about me. Just when you get up there prepare yourself. Things won't be like what you remember." Steven wanted to know more, why was he down here. where was his friends Lars? Why were the Crystal Gems getting information from her? he didn't get the chance to ask as she let the door open.

"clear" she waved him forward. Steven stepped into the hallway once more, but this time a sense of dread began to take over. 'what did she mean about preparing myself?'

She pushed him on, this wasn't the time to be thinking about things. Using the wall as cover they neared their target. Apparently, the service elevator was quite small if the door had anything to say about it.

"okay this is it. It's gonna be a tight squeeze since, well, you're not a Peridot." She brushed her hand against the side and small slit opened. Lanky fumbled for a moment as she shapes her hand into a flat key like object, before inserting it into the device on the wall.

"I don't mean to rush, but they could be back at any minute." Lanky was trying her best, it was a slightly different card insert to the one she practiced. Steven didn't know that of course, he was just worried about them getting caught.

"traitor!" unfortunately he had good reason too as an Agate shouted at them from down the hall and entourage of Quartz's behind her.

"oh no oh no!" Steven was panicking, his shield was too small to hold off that many, he could try a bubble shield, but then what could they do to get out, it would just be a mini prison.

"okay I'm forcing it!" Lanky pulled her hand back and turned it back into a fist before slamming it into the slot, a crack of electricity shot across her skin lighting her hair into a bright orange glow. With a ping, the door opened.

"Stop them! Attention! Rose Quartz is attempting to use service elevator thirty four, shut it down!" The Agate and her crew were breathing down their necks, there was no time to even think that either of them could fit in the elevator. Steven went to grab lanky and push her in but she beat him to it by slapping him on the back!

"w-wait!" Steven barely fit as he was pushed inside by the force of her hit. He tried to turn and grab her but there wasn't enough room.

"tell Amethyst that she was the best commander I ever had." With a thrust of her hand another shot of electricity shot across her body and the door closed, right before she was tackled to the ground.

"I will." The elevator began to ascend to the surface, air or no air, he'll have to run as fast as he can.

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This couldn't be happening, there was no way. the midday sun was blinding him from the tall buildings around him. Their broken windows shining the light into his eyes. It wasn't enough to blind him from the destruction surrounding him however. The street he appeared on was nothing but burnt car wrecks and debris from the buildings, craters littered the very concrete he stood on.

"where am I?... why does this look like…" he stepped forward off the elevator as a cold wind blew against his naked frame "earth?" it picked a newspaper up and blew it straight into his face.

"wah!" he pulled it away and threw it to the ground, it's headline flashing momentarily before moving further down the street.

"no…" a cold fear began to grip his body, sweat began to form on his head as his eyes scanned the surrounding area.

"this can't be happening." His feet moved him further on down the street, the idea of a pursuit group was thrown from his mind. There was too much already cramming its way in to his head. the title of the head paper kept repeating over and over in his mind like a mantra.

'Earth under Attack. Millions of dead, unknown saviours have failed.' Realization was at the tip of his mind, the buildings around him felt so familiar -yet in their current state- so alien.

"empire… city!" it hits him full force, the city he visited with his father so many times lay in ruin, not a single soul was in sight, his legs gave way and he soon found himself on his knees.

Homeworld had invaded earth once more. It was another gem war.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" he shouted his lungs out to the hollow shell of a city around him. His voice bouncing off its shattered walls several times before disappearing into the sky above.

"this can't be!" he scrambled back down the path he just came, eyes trying to locate the paper he just saw.

"there!" he spotted it wrapped around a fallen telegraph poll, he reached for it and manage to grab it before it flew off into the sky once more, he forced his eyes to read it once more before finally finding the date. 3-8-2017.

"I've been gone at least two years!" this was horrible, traumatizing even. For two whole years he was 'dead' to the world. Completely unaware of what was happening around him, add to the fact he somehow got from Homeworld back to earth and well, Steven was lost. Lost and confused.

But not alone.

"the Crystal Gems!" Lanky had said to get the data to his team. So that must surely have meant they were alive and well, they were still fighting!

"okay I have to move, I need to find a ride and get to beach city. I will find the gems and everyone else and we will fix this!" working to motivate himself was kind of hard with the hard-hitting news sitting in his mind, but he had to keep his spirits up. There is still a way to turn things around.

"okay... where in Empire city do you find a ri-" a nearby trash can fell over, the resounding crash forced him to duck to the ground, almost making him cut himself on window glass. Steven spotted a shadow move away from the corner of an alleyway.

"wait! Hey, wait a minute!" he was about to get up when the ground beneath his feet began to shake.

"wooah oof!" his hands slipped out from under him as the ground crumbled away, something was emerging from under him. He didn't have enough time to move when it burst forth from the ground. Steven was lifted into the air before landing with a solid thud against the unknown entity.

"scanning! Scanning! Scanning!" it was a ball like shape with four little stubs for legs. With a shock Steven realized he had just landed on a robonoid.

"unknown object aboard." Its scanning laser reflected in his face before passing over his gem. This wasn't good.

"oh hotdogs!"

"Target found!" He jumped as a laser fired right where he was lying on it. With a twirl, he spun before landing on his feet with a small pose.

"hahaha. Missed!" Steven had a smile on his face as he bowed to an imaginary crowd.

"pursuing!" this really wasn't the time to distract himself though. Pushing his feet into over drive, he began to sprint down the street, passing the alley he had seen the shadow down. He didn't notice the hooded figure crouching behind the dumpster, a rifle pointed his direction. With light feet, he took a right disappearing down the street with a robonoid on his tail.

The hooded figure reach for a com device behind their ear.

"HQ this is Scape Goat, come in over."

"Hey Scape Goat! HQ reading you loud and clear. Have you secured the defector and package?"

"that is a negative HQ. I think it was a human that came from the rendezvous point."

"Human? Did you forget the plan Scapey. The defector was supposed to be a gem."

"Forgive me HQ, I thought it was the light, but I thought he a gem embedded in his stomach."

"whaaaaaaaaattttt? Did-you-say-Gem?"

"affirmative HQ."

"back in a sec Scapey!" silence passed over the radio, it was unusual for any type of news to require the commander to leave her station on a mission. A few moments passed and a new voice came through the radio.

"Scape Goat this is Pearl. New orders. Pursue the escapee. Report anything that happens."

"understood. Scape Goat over and out" The operative known as scape goat seemed to vanish into nothing as they pulled away from the trashcan.

"It would seem that things are going to get exciting again." they began their chase after the runaway human.

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"come on leave me alone please!" The robonoid would not give up. It was just relentlessly chasing him, every obstacle he jumped over it would effortlessly plough through it. It was always a few steps behind him as well, he couldn't get distance. Any distance he thought he was gaining, no matter how small was soon eaten up by avoiding glass or piles of sand that someone thought funny to leave in the middle of the road.

"pursuing!"

"yeah I know you are! Nnnnnnn" he turned his head and stuck his tongue out for a brief second. It was about a metre away, he needed more room before it would fire again. Scanning the fast-moving environment around him, he noticed the passageway into a building to his left was clear. Taking the opportunity of a broken-down van to his right, he jumped, planting both feet against its stained surfacing and pushing off towards the broken doorway, the robonoid screeching to a halt under him as he sailed over.

"woooaahhhh!" he landed with a crash as he hit the counter across from the door way.

"oohhh. Pearl is going to fuss over me way too much when I get back!" he rubbed the back of his head.

"pursuing!"

"oh, come on!" he had a second to pull up a bubble shield as the robonoid came crashing through the doorway, it collided with Stevens bubble and pushed him through the counter and the following wall. It didn't stop until they ended up in a stair way.

"get off!" Steven popped his own bubble and rolled away as the machine began to push forward once more, he got clear as it ploughed through next wall. It stopped moving as rubble and debris began to pile up on top of it.

"fiinnnaallllyy! You. Just… stay there." Steven was exhausted, there was barely anything left in the tank.

"it would be so nice if I had a cookie cat right now. I'm so hungry I would even eat a lion licker. Right after I give lion one too." He could fill his heartrate start to slow. This thing really sent him on a marathon.

"I am so asking Peridot to tell me what your off switch is" he pulled his foot back and gave it a solid kick, annoyance obvious across his features. The first one of these he met were a heck of a lot friendlier.

"pursuing!"

"bad thing to do Steven!" he really shouldn't have kicked it. That wasn't nice.

It began to whir to life once more, the rumble falling away in great chunks. Not bothering to stick around for the show of terminator like determination, he made a dash for the stairs. If it was going to keep chasing him, it would have to make its way up a small stairway with its massive body.

"going up!" pushing his already cut feet to the limits, he made his way up the stairs. The robonoid below was having a hard time keeping up.

A few minutes of frantic running later and Steven was at the top, his breath basically none existent by this point.

"ugh!" With a final grunt of exhaustion, he collapsed onto the ground, the sounds of destruction far below him. it was very terminator like persistence indeed.

"note to self… ugh!... work out more." How was he ever going to get to Beach city with this robot constantly on him. it's at least a two-hour drive by van, probably longer on foot. Pulling himself off the ground was hard, even more so when the dismal sight of the city was displayed before him. its charred and ruined buildings, a ghost of their former, vibrant selves.

"what happened. Why did they attack earth?" the headline of millions of dead flashed in his mine again.

"is everyone going to be there when I get back? Are they all okay?" this was already too much. "will they recognize me? Oh, dad is going to have a fit when he sees how much older I look. Connie too." The rumbling beneath him grew louder as the robonoid began breaching the final layers of the building.

"okay. I am really sick and tired of being chased by you." The stairway began to crumble as it breached through the top.

"you really want me!" Steven backed up against the edge. The robonoids laser began fizzled out as it tried to fire, it must have been damaged in its climb. That's is what Steven was counting on. Figuring out its main weapon was disabled the robonoid charged.

"then come get me" Steven fell backwards as the robot neared him, falling off the building, the robonoid following. The fall was a high one but Steven knew he would be fine, he summoned his bubble and stuck his tongue out as the machine.

"look out below!" they both fell fast. It was seconds before they hit the ground. Steven bounced off the road, completely unharmed. The bot wasn't so lucky. It was pierced by a lamppost before finally smashing against the ground. Green gunk sprayed everywhere around its impact site.

"ugh" Stevens bubble landed on the roof of a car before stopping its bouncy tirade.

"Amethyst would be proud. That would of scared the gem out of Pearl though." He popped his bubble and fell onto the roof.

"Garnet would have jumped with me though." A smile came to his lips as he rolled off. He was really looking forward to seeing them again. He felt the jingle of keys against his feet as he landed in a pile of sand.

"awesome!" his eyes lit up at the sight of car keys.

"you don't happen to be from this car, are you?" the car in front of him wasn't much, just an old convertible with the paint stripped off in some places. Jumping the door and getting comfy in the dusty old seats, he put the key in the ignition.

"come on baby, Steven needs some wheels. Wait this isn't considered stealing, is it?" he did find the keys in a pile of sand and the car does look like it has been sitting here for a while.

"oh man, I need to though." With a determination in his eyes he filled his lungs with air. Before shouting.

"I'm just borrowing it! I will return it later!" the was no reply. Still.

"my dad owns a carwash! I will bring it back nice and shiny!" his voice echoed back and he smiled to himself. It's not stealing if you ask. Turning the key over once the car sputtered.

"good you still have a charge!" Stars lit up in his eyes as he flipped the key once more.

The car sputtered.

"okay. One more. Please, pretty please" he twisted the ignition again and the car roared to life.

"yes woohoo!" checking his rear view mirror for anything behind him he backed out.

"oh seatbelt. Can't forget that." He buckled himself in before driving off down the street, the signs guiding him to the freeway.

"Beach City or bust!"

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"HQ this is Scape goat come in."

"yo Scapey. Reading you loud and clear. Any news for me bud!" Scape goat was perched up a tower block.

"I have confirmation" there was a fumbling on the other side of the mike. "uh excuse you!"

"Scape Goat this is Pearl, what do you have?"

"the human is indeed a gem hybrid. He had bubbled himself several times in a fight with a Robonoid." The line went crazy with cheering. It sounded like half the base was listening.

"it's him... its… Steven. Garnet." The cheering continued as the mike was passed off.

"we will take it from here Scape Goat. Return to base."

"affirmative, over and out"

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The Crystal Gems base was buzzing from the unexpected news. Amethyst has Quickly spread the news after the first mission report, within ten minutes most of the human and gem Divisions had gathered in and around the communications room eager to here anymore of the supposed sighting of a gem hybrid.

"oh, this is so, like… Steven! Little man was never gonna leave us hanging!" Amethyst was absolutely set by the news. She dived into a group as they revelled at the news.

"Garnet" Pearls eyes were watering. After losing Steven not once, but twice. She thought was it. She would never see her little baby again. She looked to their leader as she paced back and forth.

"Garnet, he might be hurt, lost or even worse traumatized by the things he is seeing. We need to find out where he is going and bring him home." Garnet stopped in her tracks and gazed at pearl through her visor. Pearl had managed to pull her from her thoughts.

"home… he is heading home. Dandy" Garnet called out to the crowd and a single gem popped out from the group. Her hair was held back by a green visor, her choice of form, a bright flowy sundress.

"yes mam… how can I be of service." She was constantly typing away at a holo screen projecting from her wrist.

"go tell Peridot to fire up the chopper. Where bringing back Steven."

"aye aye mam!" Dandy faded away her holo screen and saluted to her commanding officer before vanishing in to the crowd.

"alright! We going to get Ste- man?"

"of course we are Amethyst. Do you want some else hugging him first!"

"heck no! that dude is not leaving my arms! Haha. What about you Garnet?" Pearl and Amethyst regarded their leader. For a moment her expressionless face was replaced with a smile.

"I get him to hug him first." She walked passed the two heading towards the hangar.

"hey no fair!" Amethyst followed after.

"oh-oh-oh. I get to kiss him on the cheek first!" Pearl delicately passed through the dissipating crowd.

They were going to bring home their baby

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Steven turned down the static of the radio as he came to the final hill to Beach city. For the pass two hours of driving he thought of nothing but the reunion at the temple. Several times he wondered how he would do it. Would he just walk in and say hi, just so all of them can stand in shock before launching into a hug?

Or would he be running and jumping all the way up to the temple, calling everyone's names as he went. They would hug and laugh, he would get dressed and then grab donuts while he told them about the crazy adventure he and Lars had. Oh, he couldn't forget about Lars. They still needed to find him, surely if he somehow managed to get home as a gem, Lars must have made it too right.

"Beach city!" the sign for now entering beach city passed him, this was so exciting. Sure, in the time he was gone he would have missed a lot, but they would surely bring him up to speed. After that, when everything is caught up on, the tears have been shed, the laughs had, all the emotions of reunion sitting behind them, they will end this war. It will be the adventure of a life time.

"everything will be fine." He wanted to drink in the sight of beach city once more, so he pulled over. The car came to a heavy stop, the brakes must of be old.

"here go Steven. Home sweet home." Jumping out of the car, he fixed the fabric around his waist. He rubbed the gem on his stomach. The memory of his mother still with him. it was time to cross this hill.

On cut feet, he trudged the final few steps over the hill. His heart beating fast and quick.

"it's there. It's there. Everyone's okay. Its-"Stevens heart sank as he stood upon the top of the hill. His eyes scanning the charred remains of his hometown, nothing was moving, nothing was left standing. There was only pink sky from the setting sun and the blackened town before him.

It was gone. Beach City was gone.

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 **Well what do you think of chapter two. I hope you like but, well if you didn't then I apologize. Still I have this idea of what I want to happen in this war. I want Steven to mature a lot to go from being this (still somewhat mature Steven) to one the realizes the actions needed to win a war. A lot of gems will see Steven as Rose Quartz and that's something I want him to deal with too. As well as dealing with loss and regrets. This Steven is the one I see ending the war in my head. so, I am going to put him out there for everyone to see. I hope you stay for the journey.**

 **See you in the next chapter.**


	3. Reunion

**Hello again! I am so happy to see the interest that this story is gathering. I hope most of you have liked it thus far -even though it is only two chapters now three if you include this- I always wanted to have Steven in a war. Too see how he changes from it all and what choices he would have to make while still trying to be himself. Unfortunately, war doesn't let people stay the same. Anyway thank you to those who have reviewed I will answer any questions at the end of the chapter or through PM.**

 **Steven Universe and its characters are owned by Rebecca sugar.  
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Chapter three: _Reunion_

Pained feet staggered across broken ground.

The floorboards of the once pristine boardwalk lay broken and burnt. Their once solid foundations, torn away by the signs of battle. Words left Steven as his heart sank from the sights around him.

Mr smiley's arcade. Gone. Its once playful noises crushed from the outside by an unknown force. The roof was splayed before him like a pancake. Steven tore his eyes away and moved on, hoping the serious -yet bright man- was okay.

Fish stew pizza. Obliterated. Wiped from the face of the earth. Its lot vacant of any sign the building was once there. The family establishment was one of his favourite places, the twins and their constant banter would always fill your ears as you sat down to eat. 'They must have got away… right?'

It was crushing him to think even the worst might have happened to anyone he knew. Buildings could be replaced, homes could be rebuilt, malls, boardwalks, fun-lands, arcades, all of it minor damage in the eyes of death. You can't rebuild lives lost, you can't fix that type of damage. It's permanent.

Pulling away from the sight before him, Steven hurried on. There was no point looking at the rest of his favourite places, the ache was too much. There must at least be some place, that wasn't caught up in this war. Some ,remaining glimpse of his past still standing.

"Dad" he couldn't go to the temple, not yet. The carwash was he next destination, one he couldn't pass up. For the early years of his life, that was his home, living in the van with dad, growing on the stories he told of mom. He will be so happy after he found that Steven had met Rose, that she was still alive.

The walk there was filled with the ever-constant crashing of the ocean waves as they fell upon the beach. Once they all meet up again, once they are all happy again, they would have to sit by the sea as a family and enjoy the waves.

"what if everywhere is like this?" Steven didn't mean to speak aloud, but as he caught sight of himself from a shard of glass, the older him looking back. It brought forth questions of a time that passed in his absence.

"is Connie okay where she is? is she safe? She would be older too." Stepping around the glass he moved on, he would soon be close to the carwash.

"of course, she is Steven. Pearl wouldn't let anything happen to her pupil." Turning the corner, his eyes sore the sight of colour and his heart began beat franticly against his chest, excitement stirring him on. Just down the street, the blue, red and white of the _it's a wash_ carwash were bathed in the setting suns light. The sight of it untouched sent Steven into a spur, before he knew it he was running towards it, a smile on his face.

"Dad, dad, dad, dad!" calling out for his father never felt so good. They were going to be okay, everything was fine.

"dad!" he pulled to as stop as he got closer. His heart fell slightly once more.

The van wasn't there.

"dad?" Steven ran up to the door of the store and pulled on its handle, it didn't budge.

"locked! Damn." Quickly he peered through the window, there was nothing out of sort, no signs of him leaving in a hurry. Surely that meant he was still alive, somewhere out there he was fine.

"okay. No problem." He pulled away and began his trek towards the temple. A flash of light caught his attention. There lying in the middle of the street was the data device Lanky had given him. The lean Jaspers sad expression passed before his eyes. He pushed it away, they could probably go on an awesome rescue mission for her later.

"hey when did you fall out? I guess putting you on the waist wasn't a good idea, huh bud." Steven gently picked it up and held it in his hand, he wasn't going to lose this device, not when someone did so much to get it.

"the gems." The temple was just up ahead, one of its many hands pointing out from the side. 'if the carwash was fine, then the temple is too.' He pushed on.

When Steven reached the beach, he was surprised to see most of the sand had been formed into a glassy surface. The rainbows reflecting through it gave the tempting notion of a colourful sea. The creation behind it though, was. Disheartening.

"Alexandrite." The battle in his mind was still only pieces of a whole story. The fact they had to form the toughest fusion on hand, spoke volumes in terms of the enemies' strength.

"this isn't good, not good at all. Garnet!?" he stepped upon its shiny beach surface, it was cool to the touch.

"Peearrrrlll!?" with hurried steps he moved towards the corner of the cliff. His voice growing hoarse from the frantic tone of calling.

"AMETHYST!?" Steven was shouting louder now, he was panicking. Pushing pass, the fear in his mind, he ran around the corner, his feet barely registering the sand now beneath his toes.

He couldn't help it. Tears breached from his eyes at sight before him.

"no… the temple…" the once glorious home base of the crystal gems lay in ruin. The hand that gave him hope was the only standing part left. The rest of it, even its gorgeous face, was marred by deep gouges and fallen rock.

"I was, a fool." To think the base would be untouched, to think everything was fine, it was sickening.

"H-Hello, anyone *hic* there?" fighting past the tears, he pushed onwards to the base of the stairs of what was once his home. The gave their familiar creaks as Steven carefully walked them once more. The screen door was creaking gently in the wind.

"anyone?" he pushed it aside and entered. It wasn't good.

Rocks that had fallen from the temple had pierced through the roof, smashing apart all the kitchen and living room, large chunks of earth cut the room in half, almost blocking the entrance to the temple rooms off. The frame of his mother was on the floor, covered in dust and debris.

"no one's here." being polite to his mother he picked up the frame and placed it back on the wall, the hook holding it was barely attached, but that didn't matter, he could fix it later.

"I'm home." The tears had stopped, but his heart still burned with pain. If no one was here, then where should he go? What should he do? A grumble resounded from his stomach.

"hungry aren't you bud. Me too." The sun outside was almost fully down, he would have to sleep here tonight.

"its okay. Tomorrow is a new day. Right mom!" he looked towards the picture on the wall and smiled.

Searching the place was difficult, rocks would tumble and fall when you moved wrong way or got to deep. But it also made exploring his old home into a crazy kind of game where you had to dodge a rock or get bruised. Steven had a couple bruises, he fixed them right up with his spit, the burn marks on his back was a different story though, he couldn't reach.

"Bleh beans" Steven sat down the can he had been eating from and snuggled further into a woollen blanket he had found stored in one of the cupboards, he couldn't start a fire, the floor was wood.

"what a day. Like, wow." Lying down, he let himself think of the situation he was in. basically he was on his home planet with not a single soul in sight. He woke up in a lab after saving Lars and napping away in his gem. He escaped from said lab shortly after meeting up with a friendly gem. Said gem being captured straight after his escape.

"yep what a day indeed Steven" He yawned. Things were grim that was a definite. Tomorrow is a new day, so he will walk to the barn, he might find Lapis and Peridot chilling in the pool. 'Yeah that's a plan'

Steven was about to fall asleep when his eyes caught sight of the temple door. He did try to open it, that was a given. But when he tried, it didn't move, not even an inch. The gems said that the door would open for Rose whenever she wanted it too, because it was her room, it existed because she existed, that's how it worked.

"yeah right."

But just like everything else gem, it reacted differently to Steven. The door has opened for him in the past, he knows it can happen. But now for some strange reason it refused to do its job entirely.

"dumb room." Steven closed his eyes, he would need sleep for the trip tomorrow. Hopefully he could finally move the rock to his drawer and get some clothes too.

With that in mind, Steven drifted off to sleep.

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Sleep it is important. It revitalizes you, soothes the mind, relaxes the body and slows the heart. With all these positive things about it, it goes to say interrupting sleep can have its negatives. Such as elevated heart rate, random panic or anxiety, even dizziness.

Steven was experiencing most of these negatives right now, for he was interrupted by an unknown craft flying outside the temple ruins. He had awoken to a buzzing noise, he tried to pass it off as a mosquito and that worked for about three seconds, till the buzzing suddenly swelled into an orchestra of wind and sand being swept up against the ruined beach house. It brought forth the horrid memory of the red eye that came to earth. He feared the same was happening again right now.

"stay low, stay low." Steven had pulled the blanket all the way over his head, as a bright light began to shine through the windows. If he didn't move then he shouldn't be spotted. "it won't spot you." The buzzing began to slow in pace as the vehicle outside began to land.

"no way, it shouldn't have seen me." Fearing the worse he peeked out side, the bright light was still shining towards the house. Several muffled calls came from the craft, but they were drowned out by the sound of its engine.

But it meant one thing at least, they were exiting the craft. Readying a shield and a splintered piece of wood, he waited for them to approach, it wasn't a given that they knew he was here, they may have spotted the car on the hill and came to investigate the town.

"-are- there!?" broken speech made it through the cacophony of noise. It was no use, they knew someone was here.

"damn. I'm going to have to fight." He looked at the piece of splintered in his hand. He didn't want to hurt anyone, even if they meant him harm Steven would always try to talk it out, try to persuade them of another way. whether it would work or not didn't matter, he always tried.

"okay." He threw the wood to the ground and released a heavy sigh. "I don't need that."

"in-there!"

"damn" somehow they heard him drop the wood, he wanted to get the drop on them by starting a conversation before they could find him, that idea went straight out the window.

" carefu- erl- he's- ared" more words broke through as the engine began to stop. They were coming, several footsteps bounded up the broken stairs. Steven gathered his strength and enlarged the shield, using what small time he had left and moved to the centre of the room and pressed himself against one of the larges rocks. The shield effectively sealed him in, this was better than a bubble, they won't be able to push him around.

"stay back!" a slim shadow landed in front of the screen door, only the gems outline could be seen from the light their vehicle bathed them in.

"l-look! I don't want to fight okay, I'm only trying to find my family." The gem began to tremble, as his words had scared them. A short moment passed before she reached out her hand, walking forward slowly.

"please just let me go! I don't want to go back where ever you had me locked up!" he was shaking, the gems walk didn't stop, will he have to run? The gems hand was centre metres away before their light shut off, letting the darkness drain the light from everything but his shield.

'no, I can't see them!' a hand touched his shield, he couldn't see their colour as his shield bathed it in a light pink.

"Steven… oh Steven…" a familiar voice pierced the darkness as the hand began to lightly rub his shield. Several dim coloured lights began to shine in from outside illuminating the fallen house it a warm glow of red and purple. The features of the gem in front of him slowly light up, revealing tears stained cheeks and a Pearl in the centre of her head.

"Pearl… PEARL!" he released the shield and embraced one of his precious family.

"Steven! My baby boy!" the hug was long overdue between the two, two years overdue. Tears sprang from Stevens eyes.

"I thought I lost you!" Pearl squeezed tighter.

"I woke up and I was in a strange place with different gems and-" it was hard to speak through the sobs as the two embraced. " and the worlds at… war.. I was so scared."

"its okay now Steven. You're back now… my baby boy is back!" She grasped his hair as the hug intensified even more between the two. Steven couldn't explain the sudden relief that washed from his shoulders, Pearl was okay.

"hey we're missing out on some lovin over here."

"yeah dude! We've missed you too!" the engine outside had fully died down, allowing for Amethyst and Garnet to call out to him and Pearl. Pearl reluctantly released her hold on the sniffling Steven.

"come on Steven, we've been waiting for you." Steven could still see the tears brimming at the edge of her eyes, she reached out her hand and he grabbed a hold. He wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

"I know… I know…" tears threatened to break through again, but he held back. Right now, he needed to smile.

They both walked out onto the wrecked porch before mounting the stairs two the other gems below. Garnet stood there, a smile on her face and a line of tears streaming down from under the left side of her visor. Amethyst was bouncing away on her feet. The glow from their gems still shone against him.

"DUDE!" as soon as he was close enough Amethyst leapt for him, her arms encircling his now broad shoulders.

"look at you! You've grown!" she dropped from his shoulders and quickly hugged him around the waist, her head touching his gem.

"missed you Steven." She released him and stepped to the side as Garnet stepped in. for a moment she stood there doing nothing, Steven couldn't imagine the thoughts going through her head, then out of nowhere she ruffled his hair, before finally wrapping to arms around him in an embrace.

"never leave us again, You hear." Steven smiled against her shoulder. They were all okay.

"guys, I've missed you so much, and I have so much to tell yo-"

"shhh, that can wait." Garnets embraced tightened "just, let me hug you a little longer."

"Garnet!let him go!" Steven could hear the annoyed Shuffling behind him.

"ha!, Bird moms back!"

"Amtheyst! What have I told you about calling me that!"

"nothin"

"yeah well-"as Amethyst and Pearl began to bicker Garnet moved her hands to his shoulders. A smile on her face.

"welcome back to earth Steven." Steven wanted to cry, to let the smile drop and embrace his family again, to tell them he was afraid when they took him away, when Lars died, when he disappeared from the world. to let them know, he missed them so much.

"thanks Garnet." She removed her hands and turned to Pearl and Amethyst.

"come on you two. Let's get Steven to HQ. unless you want him to shrivel up in the cold." A slight chill ran up Stevens spine as a cool wind blew past.

"oh my Steven, you nearly naked. You must be freezing, here, here. wear this" Pearl produced a large oversized jumper from her Gem, she then promptly placed it over a Stevens head.

"that should keep you warm for the time being, but we must really must get you back." Pearl motioned towards their Vehicle, it was a helicopter, a very large Helicopter.

"woah where did you get this thing!" Stevens eyes lit up at the sight of it. It even had a big yellow start painted on its door.

"oh you know dude, Just found it lying around a base." Amethyst walked passed and boarded the chopper, With Garnet close behind.

"come on Steven. Its time to go to your new home." Pearl held out her hand for him to grab.

"ah new home?" he turned to the temple and beach house behind him. it was sad. The memories he holds for this place a very dear to his heart. Every encounter, every dance, every conversation, board game, videogame, tv show, every emotional moment. Sprang from this very house and the city behind it.

"Steven"

"Dude"

"are you okay Steven?" he looked down to the sand with a sad expression on his face, his fists clenched into ball before letting them go. wiping away at the tears on his face he turned back to Pearl and grabbed her hand.

"okay. A new home, new memories."

"yes Steven, new memories as a family." She led him onto the chopper. Amethyst was already seated into the far right and Pearl decided to strap Steven next to the window, she herself would sit next to him.

"Cassandra. take route B and stick to the clouds, I saw us getting into trouble on Route A and C." Garnet was speaking to the pilot, they were dressed in a green jumpsuit and had a helmet on.

"understood, any chance of bad weather?"

"not at the moment, but I would for changes in the clouds. Might get bumpy." Garnet turned away and took her seat, she gave Steven a brief nod before buckling. Steven couldn't help but notice the pilot looking at him briefly before beginning the start-up sequence.

"Amethyst. The door." Pearl called to the quartz gem.

"oh right duh." Amethyst grabbed the handle and slid it across with a heavy thud.

"could you refrain from destroying the chopper please, I don't want to service a third one this month." The pilot Cassandra called over her shoulder.

"C I said I was sorry!"

"yeah yeah, Purplezilla tell it to my service crew." With the door now shut, the blades began to whir to life, shaking the entirety of the chopper.

"woah." Steven had never been on helicopter before, Spaceship, yes, Helicopter no. He braced for a sudden take off, but was surprised to see it slowly lift off the ground. As they got higher and higher Steven looked below, the ever-fading dark spot that was Beach city getting farther and farther away, till. It was gone.

He wondered if he would ever return again one day.

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 **Woo. Sorry everyone for the late update. Recently started a job. Let me tell you manual Labour sucks the life out of you. Between being tired and trying to get some time for myself I barely have the energy to right, that's why this chapter to so long to come out. So, for the time being it may be slow going, so a chapter a week. Sorry it's just how it must be for a while.**

 **Anyway. I'm glad people are liking my story. I'm glad you think there is potential. I'm trying hard to figure the plot and balance everything else in my life, so thank you.**

 **Okay, I will see everyone in the next chapter. Peace.**


	4. Faces Go By

**Hi again! Here is another chapter! Aley I'm glad you felt some emotion when reading the first chapter, it makes me feel good inside to know I can get reactions like that out of people.**

 **Steven Universe and its characters are owned by Rebecca Sugar.  
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Chapter Four: _Faces Go By_

Pearls form was buzzing with delight. Sitting right next to her in the chopper was none other than her baby boy, all grown up. She just wanted to constantly be touching him, either hugging him, leaning against him, holding his hand. It's been so long since she thought he was gone for good, the days she spent sitting by his and Roses gem, waiting for either to return still stung fresh in her mind.

"Pearl tone down a little." Garnets voice came through the headset on her head.

"yeah! He just got back, don't suffocate him." Amethyst was tapping her foot, obviously annoyed that she had him all to herself at the moment.

"I am not suffocating him!" Pearl spoke back, her hand brushing lightly through Stevens hair. How she missed playing with his hair, the curly locks tangling around her fingers. He was older now, at least by the look of his form, he was eighteen. Fitting, for the amount of time he has been missing from the world.

"hey I'm not complaining" Steven shifted beneath the blanket she had given him, his headset getting in the way slightly of her time with him. He had a smile on his lips.

"Duude. If you say that she won't let you go." Amethyst blew a raspberry. "I mean you should of seen her when you came back to earth." The sent a shock up Pearls form, it was far too soon to be talking about such traumatic things.

"Amethyst!" she shot her a look. Now wasn't the time to be letting things slip out at the wrong time, couldn't she just leave it be for the time being.

"wait… so I came back to earth in my Gem?" Steven leaned up from his position, his warmth leaving Pearls lap. 'see what you did now'

"yes, you did…" Garnets voice trembled just slightly. "but we can talk about that when we get back to base."

"yes, quite right. we can get you nice and fed, clothed, well once we get you past everyone that misses you." Pearl noticed the glint appear in his eyes, he was hopeful, hopeful that people he knew would be there.

'oh dear, oh Steven' it hurt to know that not everyone will be there to greet him, to hug him, to say hello. There will been plenty of new faces, both human and gem that he will be able to make friends with, it's just a lot of old ones will be.

Gone.

Pearl crossed her hands into her lap, he will be devastated. It's no telling what will happen to Steven after he finds out.

"Pearl." Pearl pooled her attention towards Garnet, her reflective visor showing her own saddened eyes.

"yes." She couldn't help the creak in her voice. Steven was too busy humming away to himself, looking at the stars through the window. "what is it?"

"Stevens home. Smile, for him"

"hmm?" Steven pulled his attention away from the window. "you okay Pearl?"

"ah yes, fine. Completely fine! Just concerned about what to get you to wear." She tightened her fists.

"as long as it has a Star on it I'm fine with anything!" he beamed a smile back at her.

"that's Steven for you HA!" Amethyst kicked her foot against the floor. "to bad your old shirts aren't gonna fit stud."

"aww Hotdogs." Steven had stuck his tongue out at her.

Garnet was right. She had to smile, for Stevens sake. Right now, this time in flight would be the only time they could get before it all comes out. The state of the war, what Stevens role will be, what he will have to do. It will be a heavy load on the boy, one that will surely test him.

"well I guess, dads just going to have to buy me new ones." he giggled to himself. It nearly crushed pearl.

"y-yeah! Exactly right. Greg is gonna freak when he's seen how you've reformed! R-right Garnet?" Pearl could feel the tension rise considerably. She could see Amethyst was uncomfortable, she had a right to be.

"yes." Garnet turned towards the window. The three of them weren't looking forward to this part of the reunion, not one bit.

"five minutes to touchdown." Cassandras voice passed over the coms alerting everyone. Pearl moved to unbuckle herself, releasing her form from the confines of the seat. She moved all the way over to the door while Cassandra switched off the lights in the cabin, sending it the darkness.

"whats going on?" Stevens concerned voice overcame the roar of the engine over head.

"its's okay Steven, just landing procedure." Garnet was trying to soothe him. Pearl pulled the door open and the cold air came rushing in, they were dangerously close to the cliffside of a mountain. She lit her gem and pointed across the vast gap, lighting up its all.

"pull forward by three metres descend by to the count of three." Pearls light passed over the sheer cliff face, Cassandra followed her orders.

"one" the pilot pulled forward and lowered.

"two" Pearls light bounced against a receiver and a panel shot forth from the vines.

"three!" the wheels touched down on the large panel acting as a sort of floating landing pad.

"woah, that is so cool. Are we floating?" Pearl quickly jumped from the chopper and onto the pad as it began to move, pulling them all into them into the cliff face, the vines parted way to not get tangled in the in the rotor blades.

"it's a bit of work between Peridot and I. Based on the old Gem tec-"

"yeah yeah move out of the way people to see." Amethyst rudely interrupted her as she jumped from the chopper onto the pad. Garnet helped Steven from the chopper, making sure that blanket wrapped around him didn't go falling off.

"Steven, welcome to Headquarters for the gem rebels" Pearl watched as his eyes lit up, they were almost though the wall.

"it's him! its Steven Universe!"

"Stevens back!"

"to the leader of the Rebellion!" there was a crowd in the hangar, about forty or so, all here to welcome home Steven, it was such a wonderful and welcome sight to see them cheering and all. Pearl could see it in his eyes, the happiness, the excitement.

"well I hope they didn't leave stations unattended." She remarked. It would be troublesome if enemy forces got through the scanners.

"wow! Hi! Hello! how is everyone!?" when the pad docked Pearl moved to hold Steven back, but her hand barely touched him before he leapt from the pad and into the crowd.

"Steven come back." The blanket around his shoulders clumped to the ground around her feet.

"Pearl." Garnets grasped onto hers "its fine. Let him say hello." Pearl bit her lip, she needed to be beside him, he could get sick running around in that piece of fabric. He bounded up to a short girl with white hair.

"Sadie!"

"Steven! We've missed you!" the girl that worked at the Stevens old confectionary shop walked up and hugged him, along with many others from the boardwalk. The boys with white hair, one of the Pizza shop girls, that man who constantly had a smile on his face despite his many conflicting emotions, they all greeted him.

"welcome back commander." Dandy walked up to Garnet, her commanding officer, still tapping away at her holo-screen. Pearl liked Dandy, she was always to the point, never dawdles and always keeps her language clean. The only problem she had was the lack of emotions, Pearl could never tell what she was feeling.

"that the finished debrief?" Garnet spoke to her subordinate.

"yes mam. Scape Goat is currently stationing herself at outpost three, with Recon unit one, the defector isn't with them neither is the data drive pertaining to the research in empire city. Any further information regarding our inside operative is also unknown." Dandy tapped several symbols into her screen and closed it.

"we have the data drive. Recall the unit, we still have to debrief Steven about his escape." Dandy nodded and left, her yellow sundress puling behind her.

"damn!" Pearl flinched at Amethysts reaction, the short purple gem had her hands clenched. "Lanky better be okay, Cornelians going be bummed after she hears that."

"Amethyst. I'm sure she's fine" Pearl spoke calmly, it wasn't a lie to say she was fine. Well not a big one. "right now, we need to focus on Steven." Amethyst glared at her in reply.

"break it up, Steven is going to need us soon." Garnet stood between the two, separating the intense stare off.

"how bad is it going to be?" Pearls expression grew grim.

"bad" this was going to be hard for them. they just got Steven back and they don't know how being in his own gem has affected him. what if there was some unknown change besides the age jump, he still seemed like Steven.

"okay. We can do this" amethyst reached her hand forward towards Pearl offering an apology. Pearl didn't accept.

With a huff she jumped from the pad and into the crowd, Stevens laughing could be heard as Mr Smiley was playfully rubbing his hair.

"you've grown Steven! I mean damn! Where you work out at son hahaha."

"aw you know Mr. smiley. Just, growth spurts" Steven replied in his own goofy way.

"now now. That's enough" parting the crowd, Pearl stepped towards the young gem. "you can all see Steven later, right now we have very important business to attend too." With a clap of her hands Gem and Human began to remove themselves from the hangar, all of them waving to the new addition to the war effort.

"did you see that, Sadie got slimmer and Mr Smiley has a grey moustache. There was a Citrine too and so many new gems. "

"I mean wow, two years and people change so much. Anyway, where is dad and Connie?" Pearl sagged at his words, her form growing heavy from being the bearer of terrible news.

"Steven. Connie's fine, she is currently on a mission. But… Greg…" she couldn't look him in the eyes. Not those big beautiful eyes, she was barely struggling to hold her own tears. As she turned away a hand touched her shoulder.

"c'mon Steven. We will go see Greg." Garnet looked at Pearl through her visor, she knew she couldn't do this alone, it would kill her.

"oh, cool lead the way!" even though Pearl didn't need to breathe, she took in a shuddering breath. She was going to hold it.

All the way through this.

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'I have a bad feeling about this.' Steven shuddered as they walked down a steel hallway, passing many doors and fellow Crystal gems and humans. He would wave and say hello, to which they would pleasantly say hello back. It was so nice to see the ranks of the Crystal gems swell, it made his efforts before the war seem so small. He couldn't wait to know many of the new faces as they passed him by. He was glad to know Connie was safe and leading missions and Peridot too by what Pearl said on the sci-fi pad.

"this place is cool, is it an old gem base?" He had to quell the tension he felt in his chest, they weren't telling him something and that something obviously had to do with dad. Amethyst turned around a meek smile on her face. Her smiles seem to never change, even with time.

"this is an old Colony ship that crashed into the mountain. It's like crazy old school, but Pearl and Peridot built it up into what it is."

"yeah, we did" Pearl had a distant look in her eyes as they moved further down the hall. Passing by an opal gracefully avoiding the overhanging lights, she was a bit too tall for the hall.

"oh sorry Excuse me." She danced around them and gave amethyst a wave, Garnet gave them a thumbs up as they passed.

"woah, another Opal!" the Opal moved further on, a slight blush on her cheeks from being pointed out.

"that was Trip and Dip. A Pearl and Amethyst we rescued from re-education facility. They can barely move around on the own because they're so clumsy, but man… when their fused their more graceful then me and Pearl!" Amethyst was happily walking backwards.

"uh I have another question." Steven raised his hand as if he was in a classroom. He was extremely curious about how all these gems came together.

"yes, the student in the back" Amethyst morphed a pair of glasses onto her face and her hair into a ponytail.

"ah how did so many gems come to gather here?" Amethyst had a smile on her face.

"Garnet can handle this one." She turned away her ponytail fading back into her mane.

"when the diamonds attacked earth, many gems came from other planets to help with the colonization, there was one gem, you will meet later, that helped with the effort, Lars can introduce you when they get back." the group moved around a sign Steven didn't read what it said.

"Lars! Is he okay? Last I saw of him was on Home world before everything turned black." The group Stopped and turned towards Steven, Pearl was visibly shaking. 'did I say something wrong?'

"w-what did I say something wrong?" Garnet leaned down and gently cupped his cheeks. Her visor serious sheen had given away to reveal her eyes. She looked deep into his own, the tingly sensation that scratched away at his chest began to build. She looked scared.

"were you scared?" she spoke first.

"no… I wasn't. Just tired, I don't even know how it happened." She tugged gently at his cheeks before letting go.

"okay then, we'll talk later about that… right now. Pearl." Pearl, on que, stepped off to the side and opened a door.

"Steven, inside please." Her tone was quiet almost neutral, it was frightening.

"is dad in there?" she nodded her head only once before casting her eyes into the room.

Without Hesitation Steven planted a smile on his face. No matter what resided on the other side of the door whether it was good or bad he would be ready. He couldn't let down his father.

"coming in." he stepped passed the solid door, looking forward to seeing his father after all these years. Was he aged? Did he have less hair now or missing teeth, was his eternal tan lines gone. What was it that had the other so on edge? Was he injured!?

"Dad!" a sudden wave of emotion passed over him as he stepped into the candle lit room, it was not what he expected. There was no hospital bed, no flashing lights of a machine. Just a room, lined with photos, of smiling and happy faces, of one person or whole families. Their eyes spoke volumes of their happiness.

"what is this place, where is dad?" he stepped forward, was he somewhere in the room? "okay dad you can come out now. Dad?" A hand touched his shoulder, its grip tremble. Steven didn't resist as his body was turned around, he was waiting for Greg to jump out at any moment.

"Steven." Amethyst had her head bowed, her mane covering her features. Her grip tightened as a choked sob passed her lips.

"Amethyst? What's wrong? Garnet, Pearl?" Pearl stood at the door, keeping her head bowed and Garnet was silently watching on. Stevens heart began to tighten, something was wrong, terribly wrong. Why did they look so sad?

"dude. Greg is…" Amethyst started choking up, her form shaking as tears flowed from her eyes. She raised an arm and pointed towards the centre of the room, a picture frame stood upon an engraved stone.

"Greg is!"

"what are you saying Amethyst? I don't understand."

"Steven. Come here." Garnet had walked past and placed herself next to the stone, she beckoned him over. The thoughts in Stevens head were screaming to not approach, to not get any close to that stone, if it wasn't for Garnet telling him to come over, he would of ran out the door.

"Garnet do you know what's wrong with Amethyst? Why Pearl won't come inside?" with shaking steps he approached, the eyes of many pictures were upon him, watching him from their spots upon the wall, why did everything seem so dismal, so wrong.

"Garnet?" she didn't reply, she only held out a picture that stood upon the stone.

"your father did an amazing thing, Steven. Without him, there would be many more pictures upon this wall." He reached for the photo, trying his best not to understand the meaning of those sad words.

"this is a picture of Mom and Dad, why is this here?" the Fusion patted him on the head before walking past, arms wrapped around herself, the stone before him was now no longer obstructed. His eyes passed over it, the text sending his heart into a spiral.

"in loving…. In loving memory of" he couldn't believe it; his eyes began to read over the text again and again each line driving a dagger into his heart.

"in loving memory of those" he clenched the picture against his chest, the already fractured glass gaining more lines in its already shattered frame. This couldn't be true.

"in loving memory of those who have lost their lives to the war." Pearls voice called out over his own, filling in the words he couldn't say, no, didn't want to say. It only cemented the reality of those words into his mine.

Dad was gone.

Pain, that was the first thing to register, an absolute terrifying pain, as a piece of his heart shattered into a million un-gatherable pieces.

"d… dad? Is… no… dad.. dad!... DAADDD!" he fell to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes. His eyes were clouded by tears, sending all the smileing and happy faces around him into a whirl of sadness and confusion, the eyes on the wall, all seemed to die.

"Steven. Oh no, what have we done."

"DAADDDD! NNNNOOOOOO!" he screamed again and the frame in his hands shattered, sending glass to the floor, blood splayed from the cuts in his hands, he didn't care. This pain was only temporary, the one in his heart however.

Was permanent.

"Steven, Steven stop!" he didn't feel Pearls slim arms as they wrapped around his shoulders grasping for the shards in his hands. He didn't feel Amethyst, as she clung to his arm crying tears of her own, he didn't feel Garnet as she pulled them all into an embrace. All he could feel was his own pain as the memories of his father began to tear away at his heart.

His father was gone.

"Steven please let go of the glass. Steven!" Pearl franticly tried to restrain his hands, attempting to remove the glass from his bleeding fingers.

"let GO! don't touch me!" Steven struggled as the arms around him tightened.

"Steven." Garnet held tight as Steven pulled forward almost dragging them with him.

"I said let go. p-please just… please... leave me alone" with a heavy sob, he bowed his head, the tears were burning against his cuts. They weren't healing at all, they just stung.

"Dude… Steven?" Steven didn't reply, he just kept crying. Why did he have to get taken to Homeworld, why did Homeworld have to come here, why restart a war they lost centuries ago? Was it just to take everything away from him? was it to hurt him and everyone he cared about. Why?

"it's okay Steven, we're here. we're all here for you." Garnet released pearl so she could tend to his hands, her free hand was now brushing away at his curls, soothing him.

"i.. why?... why.. mom should have… not me…" Stevens eyes began to droop as an overwhelming tiredness came over him. He needed to know, did his father die in pain.

"was… it… quick? Did… Dad… suffer" Garnet choked back a sob, she looked at Amethyst and her own fight to hold back more tears.

"No dude…. He… he didn't suffer. He did save a lot of people though… isn't- isn't that good?" Steven glanced towards her, his eyes heavy. He wanted to scream, shout, rage. How was any of this good, his father was dead. The eyes upon the wall looked back at him, their own eyes returning the happiness they had at the time they were taken. Garnet was right, there could have been more.

"yeah… that's good..." he closed his eyes. Amethyst didn't deserve to get shouted at, she did nothing wrong.

it's all the Diamonds fault.

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A darkened room with no windows. A hard bed, with only one pillow. A low ceiling or a bunk, Steven didn't know. The only thing he did know was the pain of losing someone. Someone close, someone you loved dearly.

"dad" he rolled out of the bed, his feet brushing against some clothes piled on the ground. He didn't bother to look at them, only caring to find a light. Lightly running his hand over the wall next to his bed he found a switch, he flicked it on.

"ugh, too bright." The light burned away at the darkness still hiding in his eyes. When they adjusted he finally found out that it was indeed a bunk above his bed. Meant for another person most likely, it lay empty.

"water." He moved over to a mirror and surprised himself with his own reflection. He looked older for sure, that much was clearer. A light stubble under his chin, more defined cheek bones and jawline. Gone was the baby fat of his earlier years, his curly hair now sat around his shoulders and neck, almost giving of the appearance of his mother's own curls. They just weren't pink.

"bleh…" he moved to turn on the tap, only at the last second did he hesitate. There were bandages wrapped around his right and left, holding back the wounds he accidently inflicted upon himself. A brief flash of the photo passed before his eyes and he slapped himself, hard.

"ow!" it wasn't a dream, it was real.

"oh no.. please no." Steven slumped to the floor as his legs gave way once more. All those faces and his fathers was among them, all those deaths and he was among them, all those lives taken.

And it was the diamonds that took them.

"Those Diamonds!" an unfamiliar rage took over as Steven gripped the sink, his hand was almost cracking the basin.

"they took everything!" he raised himself to he was looking straight into the mirror.

"they took my dad!" he slammed his hand, palm first against the wall.

"they took my home!" another hit.

"they took my planet!" another hard hit, a large dent was beginning to appear.

"I'm going to make them-" he stared at his own reflection once more. He wanted to cry.

"I'm going to-" he slumped forward over the basin, his chest heaving with heavy breaths.

"I'm going- to! Bleh!" Steven threw up, the intense emotions sending him into a sickening state. What could he possibly do to a Diamond? How could he even think about hurting someone that much, these gems friend or foe, they shouldn't be fighting, they should be looking for a peaceful way to end this.

"oh come on!" Steven couldn't believe what he was thinking. Peace, as if the option was still on the table. if they wanted peace, them wouldn't have been a war five thousand years ago.

"get a grip" He pulled himself back up off the basin, the entire contents of his stomach now purged. Who was he right now, what was he turning into? Yes, dad was gone and even the thought of it was about to send him into another crying fit, it also wanted to send him into a rage. What could he do about that, to fix it.

He couldn't do anything.

"this isn't good. That's not you!" he scowled at himself in the mirror. He's aged, does that mean other things have as well?

"where is the happy Steven. The always smiling Steven, the Steven that went on crazy gem adventures and made amazing new friends? What happened to me?" the flashes of memories burned into his mind came to life, showing himself as he progressed in life, powering through all its challenges with his family.

"okay, okay!" he pulled away from the mirror and ripped the bandages from his hands, they still bleed easily enough. "I'm fixing this. I'm going to end it." And iron taste filled his mouth as he dragged his tongue across his hand, it took a moment, but it healed. Steven repeated the process on the other one quickly repairing the damage done.

"nnnnngh!" he spat the excess blood into the sink and washed it away with water. He couldn't stop, he couldn't let his mind wander to those horrible feelings of pain and heartbreak, he needed to be strong. The Crystal Gems are counting on him to do something he can only do.

"be Steven. Be me!" he found a door to his left, leading to a small bathroom and toilet. Quickly he showered and washed the stains away from himself, tears and blood stained the floor as he washed himself clean. This was going to be harder than he thought.

Finally pulling his tired body from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, he searched for clothes. It didn't take long, one quick glance on the table revealed a red singlet, a black leather vest with a yellow star on the back, and a pair of army boots with light brown cargo shorts, boxers to match.

"I guess the red shirts were the first to go." he slipped on the boxers than the pants, he paused for a moment to check the definition of his stomach, the fat really was gone.

"cool, if donuts still exist, I can eat a couple more" he patted his stomach and slipped on the singlet, it snuggly fit around his shoulders. Picking up the boots he moved to the bed, he found a pair of socks in one of them. a small note was attached to the side.

" _Steven… it's time for a new look. You need to be as badass as possible on the battlefield. Scarin gems back into their holes. Amethyst…"_ he placed the note on the bed. "I don't think i can handle scaring gems" he pulled on the socks then the boots, they were a little too tight but that didn't matter. He left the laces untied.

"okay, smile Steven. Got to smile." he knew it was a bad idea, he knew bottling it up will turn into something terrible, it was just a matter of time. right now though, it's the only thing he can think of.

"finally." He lifted the black jacket of the table and flipped it around, revealing the yellow star on the back, his yellow star. He could hear his father's words repeat in the back of his mind.

" _look pretty cool there stu- ball"_

"thanks dad." He pulled it over his head and let it fall down his arms, the leather was soft to the touch, he could feel a tag on the left side. Opening it up revealed a sown-on patch.

Amethyst  
Connie  
Garnet  
Greg  
Lapis  
Pearl  
Peridot  
Rose

 _We are the crystal gems and we will always be with you._

"guys" it was a heartfelt gesture to say the least, as the patch hung over his heart. Maybe now was a good time to go see Peridot, to see how she and Lapis have been holding up. Letting go of his jacket Steven moved to leave the room and almost tripped as the bandages he left on the floor tangled themselves around his leg.

"oh, messy me got to keep clean or Pearl will go crazy." He picked them up and tossed them in the bin, they gave a heavy thud as they hit the bottom.

"we, are the Crystal Gems." He pulled a handle on the door and it automatically pulled to the side.

"we will always save the day." He stepped out and turned around to pull the door closed.

"and if you think we can't" he pulled the lever and it swung slid the door shut.

He didn't acknowledge the shadow standing in his room, his big bearded face smiling at him as he waved goodbye.

"we'll always find away." Steven walked away. He couldn't afford to cry again. The smiling face of his father was stuck in his mind.

well not right now anyway.

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 **Well it is a war. Can't have Steven coming back to the same family and just add the war on top of it. It wouldn't be fair to the reality of war. I'm sorry if people don't like that fact Greg is gone too. But its how things are, he did do something amazing that saved a lot of people. But I will touch on that later. Now I hope people like the base. Its basically that ship that Peridot used to trap the Crystal gems, it was slanted against a cliff. Speaking of we will see her in the next chapter.**

 **Anyway done for now, so. Avernacus out.**


	5. Unexpected Meetings

**Yay back with another chapter. sorry for the long wait, had work commitments as well as a chapter update for my other story. Anyway, action in this one as well as a bit of cursing by the end. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Steven universe and all its characters are owned by Rebecca Sugar.**

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Chapter Three: _unexpected meetings._

Okay Steven was lost, not a great start to finding Peridot or Lapis. It's just, this whole place seemed like a maze. At one point he wandered into an unused part of the old colony ship and had to turn back due to the haunting feelings it gave him. "it would have been nice if someone left me a map." He would have to ask someone soon, if he could find anyone. So far the base had been scarce of the rebels inhabiting it. As luck would have it though he rounded the a corner just as two people were leaving a room.

"so yeah. I almost got wrecked in that last skirmish. Damn near lost an arm." A rather small dark red gem walked out of a noisy room, chatting happily away with their human companion.

"well it's a good thing you can grow them back, the number of limbs I had to cauterize is not pleasant" They moved past Steven, not even offering him a glance.

Steven pulled away from them, a sudden and unfamiliar shyness taking over. "guess it's not going to be that easy" he hoped to make plenty of new friends, even if there was a war going. Not letting that little failure stop him for long, he decided to step into noisy room they exited from.

"what is that smell?" Steven breathed in the deeply sweet smell of something cooking away. It made his stomach rumble and his mouth water, the only thing he has eaten so far was a can of food and that was yesterday.

"Pancakes!" he nearly shouted almost attracting the entirety of the small cafeteria he now found himself standing in, to look and stare. "s-sorry" he blushed and moved to the end of what looked like a lunch line. It was mainly comprised of people, all eagerly chatting away waiting for their food. He made sure to watch the end of the line to see if people were paying, he didn't have any money right now and to be caught out would suck. ' _do people still pay during a war?'_

Steven found his target sitting neatly in between the bacon and eggs and what looked like soup. The golden glaze of syrup smothered the top giving it a sort of holy gleam in the half gems eyes. "come to Steven." He reached forward, completely forgoing any utensils to grab them when suddenly a wooden ladle, wacks him across the hand. "ouch!" he quickly pulled back rubbing the new red mark his hand now has, he chuckled along with a few of the others in line.

"no reaching across the boundary." A low, mono tone voice calls across to him from the other side of the food. "where is your plate?"

Steven looks up and smiles across to the lunch man with an apologetic look upon his face. "sorry, I don't know where to grab one." There was a sense of familiarity towards the man, his face was sullen and several scars marked his features all the way up to a blinded eye. A frown seemed to be permanently placed upon his bearded chin. That wasn't familiar though, it was just the yellow dreads framing his face and glasses that graced his one good eye.

"don't let it happen again or you get half servings." The man passed a plate across the food and dumped two pancakes on top. "knives and forks are next to the drink stands." With that the line moved on, Steven didn't even get to ask the man's name. no matter there is always next time.

"are you new here dude?" as Steven retrieved his utensils a rough female voice spoke to him from the table over. Steven smiled as he turned towards her.

"ah yeah I am." Taking it as an invitation, he decided to sit. The girl didn't seem to mind at all, she even offered him a spare napkin she had stored under her plate. "oh, thank you."

She was very much around the age of Steven by appearance. Her hair fell across her right side covering what looked to be an eye patch, its dark raven colouring allowing the extra accessory to camouflage behind it, if it wasn't for the strap holding it there he wouldn't even of noticed. A quick glance at what he could see above the table showed her slim shoulders fitted by a dark green tank top, probably a style of clothing similar to his.

"like what you see?" she beams a smile at him, her teeth showing a somewhat dangerous yet cheeky smile. Steven blushed immediately and apologized.

"sorry. I was just checking out that cool eye patch." Her smile drops a little at his words. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to say. "i mean, its ah. Sorry." Steven completely forgot that she might have gotten that fighting. So, looking for a distraction from the sudden silence he moves to cut his pancake and place a piece in his mouth, the savoury taste of syrup and cooked batter mixed well sending his mouth into an overdrive of drool. God, he missed pancakes.

"nah it's fine, really" the rebel across from him moves her long hair back over her ear exposing the eyepatch, it had a yellow star embedded into it. "it is kind of cool, in a sense." Her smile returns and she offers her hand across to him.

"names Jess, Jess Anderson" Steven places down his fork and swallows the mouthful he has before giving his own smile.

"I'm Steven, Steven Universe" he grasps her hand and shakes, not noticing her mouth open slightly. Suddenly she stands both hands slapping the table.

"wait a minute your Steven!" the unexpected outburst from Jess made Steven lean back a little. Many eyes in the room had focused on him again, including the mans behind the serving counter. "like half gem Steven?" she asked in a quieter tone this time.

"y-yeah. I am" he cut another slice and quickly popped it into his mouth. Jess sat down in her spot again not caring for the eyes looking their way.

"sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to shout, it's just I heard so much about you from Pearl." She focuses on his body as if searching for something. "she could never stop talking whenever Cassandra asked." Steven ears picked up at the mention of Pearl.

"Pearl was talking to you annndd.. umm" He didn't mean to be rude, but he didn't know if she was talking about the pilot Cassandra or someone else.

"oh, Cassandra's my sister and if I'm right she would have been the one to fly you in." Jess rolled her one eye as a strand of hair fell from her ear. "she is the personal pilot for the commanders."

"oh yeah! She was really strict with Amethyst." Jess smiled a moment before picking up a piece of toast from her plate to nibble on.

She seemed nice enough and that was a good thing in Stevens book, it just didn't sit well in his stomach though. Something was up with this girl sitting in front of him and a feeling was beginning to stir in his chest. Usually when Steven felt like something was wrong he would ask, but right now he didn't know Jess that well, it would be way too personal to pry into her life, he would have to get to know her first, then maybe he could help.

"so, what's your job?" questions were the best way to start in this regard, no better way to get to know someone.

"ah, I'm the quartermasters' assistant. I help in maintaining equipment." She swallows her food and places a hand up to the side of her face. "well the stuff Berril lets me maintain. I'm not allowed near the explosives." She beams at Steven and chuckles sending crumbs flying.

"oh that's cool! Do you get to handle gadgets and that too?" His curiosity was peaked.

With a sudden air of pride, Jess leans back in her seat and places both hands on the back of her head. "uh huh, it's a tough job too. Especially when dealing with the experimental stuff." She then suddenly throws her hands forward as she almost falls. "oof!. Hehe. Even some of that stuff tends to explode."

"speaking of." Jess picks up her plate and stands from the table. "I'm sure you're on the list for some equipment by now, I can take you there now if you want?" she moves to the bin situated in the isle and dumps her scraps.

Steve couldn't lie, he liked the idea of some cool gadgets to use, what if they were the stuff in had seen in movies, like lasers and cool cars or grappling hooks, a grappling hook would make his day. Especially when, well, he needed something to cheer him up since he found out his father was gone. Maybe after he found Peridot he would check it out.

"I would love too, I really would. But I was going to see my friend. Peridot and Lapis." Steven scraped the last of his delicious food off the plate and into his mouth, he really wished to go back for seconds.

"oh, are you talking about no limb Peri?" Jess stood by his side, a hand place firmly on his shoulder. "sorry to tell ya this, but she doesn't stay on base. She works at the sanctuary, head of hydroponics and agriculture, she can grow just about anything and that means she stays on our back lines."

"oh, really?" that's good to know that Peridot was okay and safe 'why do they call her no limb Peri?'

"that's okay then, what about Lapis?" at the sudden mention of her name Jess seemed to stiffen, her eye avoiding his gaze. Something was up. "is she okay?"

"ah, I don't know about this Lapis that you're talking about. Is she a friend?" Steven nodded trying to avoid the sickening feeling in his gut. 'don't tell me she is gone too!?'

"yeah she is part of the cryst-"

 _BBBRRRRREEEEEEEEERRRPPPP BBBRRRRREEEEEEEEERRRPPPP BBBRRRRREEEEEEEEERRRPPPP_

Red coloured the cafeteria as all lights went out and a siren went off, echoing about the base. It reminded him of waking up in the lab. Steven could feel Jess's hand begin to tremble and grasp tighter, she was frightened.

"no. no, so close. No!" Steven stood and grasped her arm in his hand, she was visibly shaking, it was growing in intensity as each alarm sounded until Steven had to physically support her.

"Jess what's going on. Jess!?" Steven pulled her close as many in the room began to stand rush towards the exits. A large burly man brushed past, his hand on pistol still holstered, this was a very serious situation and Steven was at a loss on what to do. Maybe wondering around the base wasn't a good idea.

"all unit's report to stations! I repeat all unit's report to stations!" a commanding voice now accompanied the alarm. "code three in process! Procced to receive incoming wounded… Steven Universe please report to tactical." The voice cut out, Steven had no clue where that was and he wasn't going to just abandon someone who was frightened. He needed help. Scanning the room of its fast exiting occupants Steven noticed the server just standing behind the counter rubbing his temples, he was obviously annoyed at the situation.

"S-s-s-steven?" Jess didn't protest as Steven suddenly lifted her over his shoulder, she was far lighter then he thought she was, almost as light as air.

"sorry Jess. Just going to get you over here." he jogged over dodging rebels as they piled out through the doorway he had scramble to a halt as several Rebels smashed past, nearly sending them to the ground. Upon regaining his balance, he noticed the server had left, he was too slow.

"uh hey!" left with no other choice Steven reached out with his free hand and grasped the arm of an older lady. "do you know where the sick bay is?" the woman turned, a stern look upon her face.

"aye lad, you injured?" her thick accent penetrated the blaring alarm with ease.

"uh no, but my friend here isn't doing so well" the woman moved around him with ease to look at Jess, her eyes showed instant recognition.

"ah, poor lass. She's avin' a panic attack." She placed a wrinkled hand upon his arm. "put ah down. Carryin' er' isn't helping. Just leave er' with me. Yah ave' some place tah be dontcha."

Steven quickly followed the woman's instructions and placed Jess down on one of the tables, out of the way of others. She was shaking all over, her one eye wide with fear.

"are you sure you don't need me to stay?" Steven moved to the other side and clasped Jess's hand, she squeezed back tightly, before letting go. Her hand was quickly trying to push him away.

"there's yah answer lad. She'll be fine." The woman nodded at Jess and placed a hand on her shoulder. "she's knowin you have to go."

Steven looked down at Jess. She was nodding away through her violent shaking. It was a shame that their first meeting ended like this, he was going to be sure to catch up with her after this emergency got sorted out.

"okay. Okay I'm going. I will see you after this okay?" Jess kept nodding even as he walked away, he didn't feel right leaving her there like that. but he had to get to Tactical, wherever that was. Stepping out into the hallway he caught what looked like a Citrine rushing the opposite way from all the other rebels, her yellow sundress flashing colour against the brown, reds and purples.

'she was in the hanger talking to Garnet!' with a flash of remembrance, Steven gave chase. His own bulkier frame was making it hard to get around the quartzes and humans running to their stations, many times he felt a hard shoulder slam into him, he could only offer quick apologizes as he kept following. He didn't even know if it was the same one, it was just a hunch.

"h-hey!" Steven called out as she entered through a doorway, but his words didn't reach her. it didn't matter though because as soon as he entered, Garnet greeted him.

"look who turned up." She smiled slightly as the Citrine handed her a document. Before moving off to the side. Unknowingly Steven had chased her all the way to Tactical, the very room he was called to.

"uh hey Garnet. Am I late?" the fusion handed the piece of paper off to another subordinate before turning her attention back to him.

"no, right on time. Pearl and Amethyst should be here right about…" Garnet need to finish as Amethyst strolled through the door, a depressed Pearl behind her.

"yo, hey Steven. Are you feeling okay?" Amethyst walked straight up and lightly socked him in the shoulder.

"ah yeah. Just dealing with it as I go?" Steven was unsure how to answer, it was still less then twenty-four hours ago that he found out about his fathers death. Was she expecting him to move on quickly?

"ahh come one dude if you need to cry big sis is here."

"no seriously I'm fine." He waved her off.

"Steven?" Pearl walked up and briefly hugged the half gem, surprising him and half the people and gems in the room. "I'm sorry Steven." Steven knew she was about to cry, but he couldn't let that happen. If she started crying then he would too, he needed to change the subject fast.

"It's. it's fine Pearl." Steven gently pulled Pearl out of her embrace before giving her a smile. "right now, we need to focus on what's happening okay?"

"okay. Your right." she straightened herself "yes your definitely right! Garnet what's the situation. Have they found the base?" Pearl had replaced her sad appearance with one of authority once more, placing a genuine smile on both Steven and Amethysts lips.

"nope." the fusion stepped towards what looked like a normal table. "but there will be trouble in about five minutes." Her hand brushed the side of the table hitting an unseen switch, the whole thing lit up with holographic images of mountains and trees.

"a sci-fi map!" Steven rushed over with stars in his eyes. "it looks just like the one off Planet Battles!" he quickly waved his hand in and out distorting the image. "it's so cool!"

"Steven." Garnet put her hand up and the half gem stopped.

"ah sorry. Anyway."

Garnet nodded before pointing towards a certain area on the map. Several red dots appeared, as well as several blue ones, although there were far less blue than the red.

"I had a vision, a fairly clear one, that Recon one was about to run headfirst into an enemy patrol just outside our sensor range. They would have met right here across route B. but that's changed now that I have given them a heads up." The fusion zoomed the map in by making a square box with her figures.

"let me guess, you set up an ambush instead." Amethyst chimed in her head barely seeing over the table.

"exactly. They would continue straight over to this position and set up camp. Far too close to allow us to continue normal missions."

"what about warp pads?" Steven got a confused look from Amethyst.

"ah dude. Homeworld is using them duuuhhh"

"Amethyst he doesn't know that. Remember, Gone four years?" Pearl defended his lack of knowledge

"ah right? Sorry Steven." Amethyst

Steven completely let that fly over his head, he was too focused on the fact that he had missed four years not two. How could he have been so stupid, that ne paper could have been from anytime and he would have believed it. Talk about fake news.

"are you kidding me?" he slid his hand through his black curls. "it's been four years not two?"

Pearl covered her mouth and looked at the young gem, an apologetic expression covering her features. How could he have been gone that long, why did it take so long for him to regenerate? Ah mild headache began to settle in as many depressing questions began to form, he needed to ask questions, lots of them. it's just now wasn't the right time.

"Steven, are you okay?" Garnet moved around the table and placed her hand upon his head.

"ah yeah, yeah I'm fine. It's just, we have a lot to talk about."

"I know, when you return, we will all sit down and talk." Pearl stepped over at the fusions words.

"when he returns. Garnet don't tell me you are sending him out there. He just got back? What if he gets hurt, he hasn't even had any training in warfare?" she was turning frantic fast.

"he needs to go. Steven needs to find out what war is like, right now. we can't dance around this one Pearl" Garnet braced a hand on both sides of Pearl. "not like last time."

With a sigh of defeat Pearl moved away. "this is crazy, we can't lose him again, I won't survive a second time." Pearls concerned words made Steven feel at ease, as if an unseen force was lifting from his heart. Pearl must of really missed **him.**

"alright Stevens coming!" Amethyst fist bumped the teen, he reluctantly returned the gesture. Back in the old days. That's the feeling he got from that little discussion. Back in the old days when Pearl first protested about Steven doing missions, was it so different now that she would do so again. Could war be different to chasing down gem monsters? The thought was beginning to get scary.

"he'll be fine." Garnet pulled away and stood back at the table. "trust him." Pearl gave Steven a resigned smile before Garnet continued her brief.

"the squad is set up further on route C, right here on the other side of this river." The map zoomed in, showing blue dots lined up on the right side of the river. "the Homeworld gems are coming from the opposite direction, once they start to cross the river, Connie and her group open fire."

"wait Connie's leading this mission?" they did say Connie was a team leader of sorts.

"yes, she is." the map zipped back to base. "I need you to focus Steven. You and Amethyst as well as several of her team will board the chopper and circle around the back. This will effectively allow us to capture the enemy gems. However." There was a but coming and it wasn't feeling that good to Steven or anyone else listening to the briefing. Now that Steven looked there were several gems listening in and recording data.

"the chance of an enemy gem getting deformed and escaping by water current is high, So make sure you move quickly." Steven and Amethyst nodded, if someone were to escape, they would report back to base and close a tighter net around them.

"Understood G. I will make sure to bring Zipps. She'll nab them in no time." Amethyst moved over to one of the gem Rebels operating the consoles. A second later the speakers spoke up with commands.

"Shiny platoon is to report to hangar 3. I repeat Shiny Platoon, Hangar 3." The speaker died down again and so did the obnoxious alarm as well.

"good maybe Jess will feel better." Steven muttered to himself as Garnet and Pearl moved away from the table.

"all set then. Steven, we haven't got any equipment for you just yet so you're going to have to rely heavily on your shield." Pearl stepped forward and gave him a quick hug. "stay safe, come home quickly."

"I will Pearl." Amethyst tugged on his jacket, a big smile was planted on her face.

"come on man wait to you meet the team. It'll be awesome." Steven followed with the constant thought of the mission in mind, he would go in, capture enemy gems and help out Recon one.

Maybe the crystal gems might get more allies. Maybe not.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Rain drizzled from the clouds above, covering the sound of the approaching enemy. She barely had time to confirm the position of several others in her squad before the first Quartz exited the thick foliage on the other side of the river.

"Scape Goat. Tell me when their midway across." Connie removed her hand from her ear piece and readied the rifle in her hand, the old Mosin-Nagant she held was old but trustworthy, she made sure of that with constant cleaning and maintenance, it wasn't going to jam on her, not on her watch.

"three Quartz's and an Agate are moving across. Want me to spook them?" Scape Goats voice moved the ear piece with a buzz.

"no. Garnet warned us that there might be eight of them." She peeked around the rock and spotted the ones Scape goat had pointed out. The Labradorite had situated herself in the trees on the enemy side, her cloak was engaged so no one could see her. that didn't stop Connie from worrying though, she didn't want to lose anymore of her squad. "make sure you see the supplies their carrying, we can't let one get away."

"Affirmative." Scape Goat Replied.

"Morgan keep your head down." Connie kept her voice to whisper as the rookie next to her decided to get cocky. The guy had a stubborn streak for making hasty decisions and that wasn't helping Connie's attitude towards him.

"sorry captain. Just itching for action." Connie rolled her eyes. She really didn't like this rookie, especially since he is basically making the same mistakes the last one did.

"listen if you don't want to turn to sand I suggest, you keep your head down, and get rid of that itch." She cocked back the slid on her rifle, checking to see if the bullet was chambered properly. "it's the best way to keep breathing."

"captain. Supplies have stopped this side of the river. Chances are their going to go away, hover-sleds don't do well on water." Connie peaked back around and trained her rifle on the tree line, several shadows moved within, waiting for commands from the Agate that was testing the waters.

"okay. Scape Goat line up a shot on those Quartz on the bank, drop them fast. The rest of you ignore the Agate and fire into the tree line, we need to deform the rest, thin numbers before back up arrives." Three confirmed grunts came through the ear piece and another from beside her, the trap was set.

It was five on eight, in a normal firefight the odds would have been against them, especially if the Agate managed to direct her squad right. this ambush was all thanks to Garnets future sight, she wasn't going to waste it.

"okay confirm when you have a target." Connie moved the sight of her gun over to the tree line, she wished she had a better position though, Stevens sword was kind of rubbing the wrong way on her back.

"this is tank, target acquired."

"Michell, target acquired."

"Ace target acquired."

"Scape Goat, Targets confirmed. Ready to rumble."

"okay all units. On my mark." She readied her shot on a rather large shadow.

"three" she was ready, ready to fight.

"two" Heartbeats were getting faster; the Rookie 'Ace' was beginning to shake right next to her.

"on-"

 _RAAAAAWWWWGGGGGHHHHHHH!_

"hold Fire! Hold Fire!" Connie pulled herself back around the rock as Scape Goats voice crashed the comms

"we got a corrupted!" Connie peaked over the rock once more as frantic voices were beginning to shout. The Homeworld Gems began to panic.

"what kind!?" Connie hissed through the radio, she didn't need this. Where did the Corruption come from and why now?

"it's Rubies! Several Rubies!" the earpiece crackled. "oh, Stars they're in a cage, they have some sort of collars!" several large clanks of bending metal echoed over the forest as something angry was beginning to break free. "their getting out!"

Connie followed the Agates path as she ordered her troops back up the river back, her anger rising at the incompetency of her troops. Were they transporting Corrupted gems all the way out here? why do they even have Corrupted gems in the first place!

"Captain what do we d-" Ace was cut off as a laser blast went off, then another and another. Soon that whole side of the river turned into a light show of laser, something was not right. a few flashes of light later and just as quick as it started, it stopped. "shoot them?"

"I don't know." Everything seemed to fade away from their surroundings, the babble of the water flowing past, the sound of the birds gone, even the rain seemed to lose its own music as it splashed against the rock. "Scape Goat Report, did they take out the Corruptions"

"Captain." Scape Goats voice came through in a whisper, she was trying to stay as quiet as possible. "captain… they got free"

"you should run."

as soon Scape Goat warned her, Howling ruled the air, moving trees and shattering ear drums. This was not good, they had to act now.

"all units fire!" Connie propped herself on the rock and didn't hesitate, she unloaded the first of her shots in the thick brush, aiming to hit one of the now larger shadows. It hit but it didn't drop, that was the unfortunate side of using bullets against gems. It takes far more than one to pop their form, unless you hit the actually gem.

All of her units opened up unloading bullet after bullet into the shrubbery. The shadows inside didn't stop moving, nor howling. They just got angrier.

"god dammit! They just won't die!" Ace reloaded his third mag into his Ak before the first of the Rubie Corruptions emerged, his was wasting ammunition.

"okay. Scape Goat. It's time for close quarters. Rest of you move to Ace, he's about to piss himself."

"affirmative!" Connie slung dropped her rifle and reached for the pink sword on her back, only she and Scape were capable of close combat, one being a gem capable of summoning a weapon, the other trained by Pearl and her methodical ways.

She jumped from the slope and slid down the embankment, her ass cheeks gaining a few scraps from the rocks she slid across, she was going to regret that move later. "okay, come get me!"

The only Corruption at the moment was moving back and forth on the other side, Connie couldn't get to it, as soon as she tries to cross, it would pounce. "keep firing. Make it cross!" her squad began to unload just as another flash appeared in the shrubbery, a desperate howl following soon after.

"she must of got one. Damn wish I had the ability to cloak." The corruption across howled as bullets entered its body, before coming through the other side un bloodied, several light holes were poking through. "come on already!" it jumped at her words, easily clearing the river, right claw raised.

"there you go!" she brought her sword up and angled the blow away from her body, sending the beast tumbling into the rocks below the ridge.

"woohoo go get em Capt!" Tank shouted on the ridge line, giving her support. She couldn't help but smile, just a little bit.

"just shut up and keep an eye out for anymore!" she bellowed back.

The gem monster grumbled, shaking the rocks and pebbles off its body, this thing was ready for more. Too bad she wasn't going to let it get up that easily a second time. she charged, raising her pink blade high into the air, she would bring it down in one quick strike.

"Captain!" Scapes Goats voice, pierced the air alerting everyone to the form that was already a metre away from her.

Another Ruby monster had joined the fight and she was too distracted to notice. No, she was too confident that her team had her back. Claws found their way into her side, sending her sprawling across the embankment.

"argh! Fuck!" a curse parted her lips as her side bit into the stones above the ground. She was hurting badly and quick examination of her hand showed bleeding, luckily she avoided the claws part of the hit or she wouldn't be sitting up right now.

"Captain! Get up!" Michelle was shouting from the ridge, her gun was trained on the one closest to herself. "get up captain!" she fired and a bullet went straight through the Rubie, before bouncing off a rock right next to her foot.

"Don't shoot you'll hit her!" Scape Goat shouted at Michelle from the other side, her cloak was gone now to reveal blue hair soaked by the rain. An angry look upon her face, she was probably thinking this was her fault.

"focus down the other one. Remember your training! Ugh!" Connie propped herself up with the sword, its pink colouring now stained by mud, she is going to have to clean it later along with her gun.

"captain!"

"I said do it!" Connie screamed at her subordinates, she really was in the mood for pussyfooting around, they should be just shooting it. A cacophony of gunshots quickly followed her shout, filling the forest with a death symphony meant for their enemies. Too bad it wasn't doing much.

"alright where were we" the Rubie focused on her was still approaching, it's animal like intellect looking for weaknesses, its eyeless face scanning hers. It would pounce soon, she knew it would.

"I haven't got all da-" her foot found un-even ground, filling her face with fear as she slipped. Her grip on the blade was lost, she couldn't recover it as the Corruption leapt, snatching the weapon from her hand. She was now defensless.

"god dammit!" she rolled over, a struggle in itself with the wounds she was now sporting. She couldn't move properly nor could she defend herself. This simple recon mission was already at rock bottom when the ambush was going to happen, now she was going to die. talk about a shitty day in the office.

The Corruption prowled closer, its body trembling with anticipation of a quick kill. 'I guess I don't get to find out that important message now. I wish Garnet had just told me instead of telling me to come back to base.'

 _Rarggghhhh_

"ahhh no! get it off arrgghhhhhh" terrified screams reverberated all around. Sending Connie's heart in a flurry of fear. Quickly she glanced back and straight away regretted the action. The other Rubie had made it up the ridge.

"arrghhhhhhhhhhhhHhhhhh-…hhghh" and was now chomping down on one of her team, blood was sent splattering into the air, covering Michelle and tank as they were moving backwards, trying to get away from the horror before them.

It got Ace.

And it was her turn next.

The Rubie in front of her began to prowl closer, its teeth glinting in the light. "oh I hope this is going to be quicker then Ace's" She was always prepared for the idea of death, because everyday waking up since the invasion was nothing but another day before it came for her too, its cold embrace already filled with the bodies of others.

"death comes, it welcomes us all." She would steel herself, saying she would meet those that have gone before in their quest to save their planet, it would help her sleep, to fight, to mourn. But still, even as she stared death straight in the face, she couldn't help but shiver. Just a bit.

"come one get it over with!" a heavy downdraft began to build as more screams spilt across the river as another unfortunate soldier was cut down. she guessed it was too much to hope it would be quick. She closed her eyes as she felt the heat off the Rubie, it's muzzle no more than a cm away from her mouth.

This was it. She closed her eyes as he leaned back, mouth open. She knew it was coming, a crunch or snap or something. After that darkness or light she didn't know, she doesn't even know if she deserves the light. Not after what she has done to survive.

 _Chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff,chuff._

The bite never came and the sound a chopper filled the forest.

"are you okay Connie!" Amethysts voice called from above, finding its way through the noise noise of the chopper.

Connie peeked through her eyelids to see the Rubie's corrupted face bounded in a vine whip. She was saved. "y-yeah. I'm fine." The creature struggled to get free, its claws digging into itself as it tried to rip off the vine.

"oh no you don't!" a figure clad in a black jacket and shorts landed beside her, his boots crunching the rocks under his feet. 'who is this guy! Did he just jump from a chopper!?' the figure was soon followed by several gems. An Aventurine, Cornelian, Opal, Torquise and Amethyst herself all combat ready. If it wasn't for her vine, Connie would be dead. Still this new guy jumped from a height of at least thirty metres without a scratch.

"are you okay?" his back was turned to her and his face was blocked by his black curls.

"I'm fine trooper. Focus on my team."

"don't worry Amethysts got that." the vine whip disappeared as the opal stepped up to the Rubie, her foot smashing into its face. Several teeth could be seen shattering as the Corruption was sent sprawling back.

"nice one Tipps!" the man before her charged after the flailing gem as it struggled to recover.

"He has no weapon!" Connie moved to stop him but Tipps the Fusion held her down. The man simply ran up and belted it across the face with a shield.

A shield that wasn't there before.

"isn't he cool! He was brought in yesterday! He's a half gem half human named St-"

"Steven" Connies heart beat heavily against her chest.

"y-yeah. How did you know his name?" Connie watched on as the half gem before her danced with the Corrupted gem, easily knocking away its attacks with his shield. Every time it charged he would deflect and whack back in return.

"it's. it's him" its claws met his shield trying to pull it away, but Steven took the opportunity and got under it, using the shield as some sort of plate to lift it of its feet.

"it really is Steven!" without a second's hesitation, he jumped sending himself and the Rubie high into the sky. At his peak, he spun, the momentum of the fall had placed the corruption under him, all he had to do was let gravity win the fight.

They hit the ground, and them Corruption deformed as the crater formed. He had taken it out like it was nothing. Was it really him?

"are you okay Connie?" he trudged over, a small smile on his face, his shield shone brightly against the morning sun, its Rose emblem confirming everything twice over.

It was Steven.

"Steven?" she didn't care for the blood seeping from her wounds or the cuts pain in her back, she didn't hesitate when his hand reached for hers. She leapt at him and wrapped her aching his arms around his shoulders. "Steven!"

"Connie? Connie what's wrong?" his hand patted her against the back, her long curls sticking to his hand from the rain. This wasn't a joke, a dying dream, here was here in front of her, he was real.

"Steven your back! Your real! You're here!" She wept tears as he returned the hug.

"yeah Connie. I'm… I'm here."

She didn't let go, not even when she could hear Tank crying for the ones they lost. Not even when her consciousness began to fade, not even as Steven began to panic. She didn't care, he was here, he was back.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **There is a lot to be added to this story so please hold on while I work out this AU. You know like reasons for the war and such as well as Greg's death and Connie's misadventures. I hope you like Jess and her sister Cassandra as I wish to add them more in the future. Anyway until the next chapter Avernacus out.**


End file.
